Mr Jonas and I
by X23 Maximoff
Summary: Who knew spilling coffee on a girl could have such amazing effects?...Spinoff of ClaireBear536's Me and Mr. Jonas...
1. Your Shirt is on My Coffee

summary: So you meet this girl by spilling all your coffee on her, and she's your brother's girlfriend's neighbor. You like her, but it's difficult when she's taking care of her family and playing club ball. It's also difficult when your name is Joseph Jonas. 

a/n: this is a spinoff of clairebear536's "Me and Mr. Jonas" and may reference to it occasionally. it is not necessarily a prerequisite to this story, but i wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who loves a great nick/miley fic!

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 1: Your Shirt is on My Coffee

The problem with coffee was that it had caffein. The problem with Joe was that he didn't need any more caffein. It was therefore impossible to determine why on earth said Joe was in Starbuck's on one cold morning, getting coffee...iced coffee. It didn't faze him at all when the barista looked at him oddly when he ordered iced caramel macchiato, as she was clearly wondering why anyone would want anything iced when the temperatures had dropped to below 60 in a slightly unusual cold snap.

Joe looked at his watch as the barista took her time icing his coffee. He needed to be home soon, before his mother started wondering or Nick and Kevin stole his PlayStation. He gave a short jig and praised the coffee deity when his drink was finally ready, not even allowing the barista to call his name. Quick check left and right - no one saw it! Or...no one cared. He calmly sprinted over to Sugar Station, grabbing three packets and quickly emptying two into the cup, then half of the third. But what to do with the other half? He surely couldn't waste it! He had a sudden thought - he'd just take it home with him! Surely between four boys, two parents, and Yoko-freaking-Ono...wait, Miley. She was Miley now, not Yoko-freaking-Ono, and not because Joe's plans of how they were the next Beatles had a few holes in it.

He checked his watch again - gah, they were surely on the PlayStation now! He whipped out his phone, texting something along the lines of "There better be an open controller when I get home!", and walking towards the door. He leaned toward his cup, dumbly searching for the straw. But wait! The straw was with the lid! Back at the Sugar Station! BLAST! He did a quick about-face, ready to power walk back to get his lid and straw...

...But was interrupted by running into and spilling all of his coffee onto a (very pretty) blonde girl. They both stood, shocked, in the middle of Starbuck's, as ice and coffee made it's way...well, all over her torso.

"Oh..." she breathed. "That's cold."

Joe snapped back to reality. "OhmygoshohmygoshI'msoincrediblysorryIcanbesuchaklutzsometimeshereletmegrabanapkin-" he reached over, grabbing napkins from the container (and his straw-lid combination, which was right next to the dispenser). He had patted her stomach a couple times before realizing she probably didn't like being patted by strangers (even if her abs were impressivly hard), and handed her the pile of tissue, standing an arms length away. "I am so sorry." he said, still a little shocked and feeling a little nervous. Did her eyes have to be so blue?!

She graciously took the wad, dabbing at her camo shirt that had "SENIOR" blazed across it in bright orange. "Oh, it's alright. No worries." she said, giving a dazzling smile. Then they entered into the one thing Joe hated the most - an awkward silence. Well, she was cleaning her shirt. He was standing there...awkwardly. She glanced towards him a couple more times before he couldn't take it anymore.

"Well...this is awkward." he said. And, to his great relief, she laughed. After a moment, Joe started laughing as well.

"Ah, I'm sorry, awkward situations make me laugh." she said, then extended her hand. "I'm Olivia."

"I'm Joe." Joe responded, clasping her hand.

"By the way, I have to tell you that I'm just glad I'm not the only person who drinks iced drinks in the middle of the cold." Olivia said, holding up an iced drink that was a happy pink color.

"Some fruit juice thing?" Joe asked, looking at the color.

"Passion tea lemonade. Sounds much more impressive." she responded with an emphasizing nod, sending her wispy blonde bangs into her face.

"That seems to be the theme of this place. I mean, why call it coffee when you can call it...I don't know, caramel macchiato?"

"Is that what I now smell like? Caramel macchiato?"

"Well...yes. But it's a good smell, I think." Joe said with a grin. She laughed appreciatively and took a long sip of her drink.

"Ah, well as long as you approve, I suppose I don't mind." she responded, giving a (flirtatious) roll of her (pretty blue) eyes.

"Eh, what can I say?" Joe said with a shrug and a smirk.

"I mean, you haven't said how you're going to make this up to me." she pointed out, taking another long sip. His eyes widened.

"Oh, good point. What can I do to make this up to you?" he said, suddenly a little nervous again. PlayStation had been long forgotten. She laughed again.

"I'm just kidding, no worries. Why don't you just go and get yourself another coffee, and I'll hold that favor to you until a more opportune moment?" Olivia said, now chewing the straw.

"Are you implying that you intend to see me sometime besides now?" Joe responded lightly.

"Perhaps." she said, smiling. "Maybe when I'm not covered in coffee."

"Again, really sorry."

"Ah, me too. I keep rubbing it in - my bad." she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway, I've got to inhale this real quick and get back home, kinda got something I need to get to." she said with an apologetic look.

"Here, I'll walk you to your car." Joe said, gesturing towards the door. Her look got even more apologetic.

"I kind of...ran here." she said. Joe slouched, realizing he probably should have noticed this. She was in a t-shirt and shorts, with underarmour and leggins underneath for the cold. Her only other accessory was the iPod on her upper arm.

"Ooh...rejected." he muttered. She put her hand on his wrist.

"Look, my thing ends at about four...would you want to hang out after that? Give or take an hour and a half so I can get cleaned up?" she asked. Joe's face lit up again.

"Sure! You wanna just come chill at mine, watch a movie or something? You can maybe meet my brothers, Nick and Kevin." he said. A twinkle in her eye suddenly told him that she SO knew who he was now. Joe kind of cringed away, waiting for the screaming and cursing the fact that there seemed to be a filter missing between his brain and his mouth. But she bit her lip and held herself to just bouncing on her toes a bit.

"I promise I won't freak out until I'm back home by myself. And that'll be the only time, kay?" she said, stopping the bouncing and adopting a look on her face that made her seem as if she was reassuring a small child.

"Wh-what makes you think I think you're about to freak out?" he stuttered.

"The fact that you're looking at me like a cow looks at an oncoming train." she replied shortly. Joe looked either way again before relaxing. "There, that's better."

"A bit." he said, nodding.

"Ok, I'm sorry, but I really got to jet. It was great meeting you, Joe!" she said, pulling out her iPod earphones.

"Wait! What's your number?" he asked as she was halfway out the door. She gave him another brilliant smile before rattling it off and taking off down the street. Joe remained in a daze for a moment before snapping to and entering the number into his phone so that he wouldn't forget it.

"Oh, it has been a GOOD day!" he said, spinning on the spot and punching the air in excitement. He then proceeded to order another coffee, actually send the text he was meaning to, and began fabricating a bit smoother story of what he was going to tell his brothers. It took all it had in him not to run the two blocks to his house, and even that wasn't enough to stop him from sprinting the last few steps to where Nick and Kevin were playing PlayStation (ha! he knew it!)

"Oh. My. God." he interrupted, but Nick and Kevin weren't paying attention. They were arguing about Kevin killing Nick or something, as if it mattered! "Excuse me, I believe I said OH MY GOD!"

"What?!" Kevin finally said, pausing the game and looking to his younger brother. Joe quickly relayed the story of the coffee shop encounter to them, but they didn't seem impressed. Did they not see how perfect this was?!

"So we finally get to see Joe in Action, eh?" Nick said. "I think even Miley will be over here to see this."

"It's gonna be intense, little bro." Kevin said, throwing an arm around his brother and looking off into the distance.

"You all suck and I hate you both!" Joe said.

"No you don't." Kevin said, getting up and walking to the kitchen.

"No, no I don't..." Joe mumbled before running off to his room.

...later that evening...

For all the time Joe had to get ready before Olivia came, he still wasn't ready by the time she arrived. In fact, Kevin was still fixing Joe's hair when Nick let her in, and they were both sitting there...awkwardly. Awkwardness seemed to follow the poor girl.

"Hey Olivia," Joe said, whipping out his alter-ego, Rico Suave. "I see you've met Nick and Miley." Olivia smiled in response.

"Yea," Nick said, grateful for the conversation. "Turns out that Olivia is Miley's new neighbor across the street, the one she flipped out on?"

"And again you bring that up..." Miley said, rolling her eyes.

"We usually pretend we don't know them." Joe whispered to Olivia, who laughed softly. "Oh yea, this is Kevin." he added, flicking a hand in his older brother's direction.

"Hey Kevin, I'm Olivia." she said, holding her hand out and shaking Kevin's, who smiled.

"Hopefully you didn't meet somewhere else, like prison or over spilled coffee or something." Joe said, saying the first thing that came to his mind in order to delay the inevitable awkward silence.

"Prison?" Miley asked, perking an eyebrow. Joe waved her off.

"No," Olivia laughed. "the detention facility I was in wasn't around here."

Joe turned and stared at her, shocked. As did the rest of the room.

Olivia looked around nervously. "That was supposed to be funny. You know, like a joke?"

"OH." Joe said, visibly relieved. "You see, those are sparce around here."

Kevin, Miley, and Nick all looked at each other, trying not to laugh at how hard Joe was trying. Olivia, however, seemed to appreciate his humor, as she was genuinely laughing with him.

"So, uh, do you guys want do something? We were planning to just chill and watch a movie or what ever." Nick said, trying to help his poor brother out.

"You cool with that?" Joe asked Olivia.

"Yea, I'm fine with anything." she said, shrugging and smiling.

"She's fine with anything." Joe repeated to the others. Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Yea, I heard. Just pick a movie, we'll all go get snacks." he said, walking (again) towards the kitchen, Nick and Miley following.

"Is this just painfully awkward?" Joe said, turning toward her as soon as they were out of the room. He had a somewhat pained look on his face. Olivia laughed again.

"No, not at all! Your family's fun! So just relax." she said, shaking his shoulder a bit.

"Alright. OH! You wanna see something intense?" he asked, suddenly excited.

"Of course!" she replied, and Joe whipped out his hand, where a short, thin cut was across his palm.

"Yesterday, I was having a really extreme paper wad fight with Nick, and one just went FLYING towards our little brother, Frankie - he's at a friend's house tonight - and I quickly just _swept_ it away, and Frankie was alright, but I got this cut!" he said, thrusting his hand towards her with great enthusiasm.

"Oh, pobre cito." she said, laughing. "You're such a strong soul."

"Yea, it was bleeding for a really long time, but then my mom put a band-aid on it - a Ninja Turtle band-aid, actually." he said, seemingly proud of it.

"Ah, Ninja Turtles are cool, but I'm a CareBear girl myself." Olivia said, going along with it with a smile on her face.

"You would be..." Joe said, rolling his eyes with a huge smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she responded in mock indignation, pushing his shoulder again. He held up his hands defensively.

"Nothing, just that you could have been Funshine in another life or something." he said, laughing.

"Well I can't help it if I'm just so cute with a bubbly personality." she said, giving him another nudge on the arm.

"Psh whatever."

"And no, you're not checking my stomach for a smiling sun mark." she said. Joe's face fell.

"Oh, come on. It's not like I didn't spill coffee on it this morning or anything." he said.

"Yea, I only allowed you to touch my abs in the first place because I've been working out hard core lately and they're really impressive."

"Psh, whatever. My abs are probably waaaaaay more impressive." Joe said, waving his hand. He left out the fact that he hadn't done a sit up in...forever.

"Oh, you silly little pickle." she said in an odd French accent.

"'Silly little pickle'?" he asked. She sighed.

"Clearly you've never seen Veggie Tales." she said.

"They have shows with vegetables?"

"Yea!" she said animatedly. "Bob the Tomato? Larry the Cucumber? Ever heard of them?"

"No. So where did the pickle come from?"

"Oh, well, it's reenacting Joshua and Jericho, but the people of Jericho are really these villainous French grapes and...I'm going to stop embarrassing myself now." she said, suddenly looking shy.

"But I still don't get the pickle." Joe said.

"Oh. The grapes called the cucumber a 'silly little pickle'. The end." she said.

"Pickles are yummy." Joe threw out. The randomness was intensified.

"That's true." Olivia said with a definite air.

"But I only like the whole ones, not the spears." he continued. She slapped him across the shoulder.

"No way! Me too! And not the huge ones you get at ball parks, those are sick nasty." she said.

"Um, sorry to interrupt the pickle-talk..." Kevin came in. "But did you two pick a movie?"

"Sorry, we kinda got a little distracted." Joe said, giving a half smile at his brother and Olivia, who smiled back. Nick looked like he was about to say something (embarrassing, by the evil look on his face), but Miley quickly elbowed him in the ribs. "What'd you do to tick off the wife?" Joe said, looking towards Nick and throwing his arm on the couch behind Olivia (not technically around her, cause that would probably be a little awkward).

"Shut up or I'll come over there and give you another paper cut." he said threateningly. Joe shrugged and turned back to Kevin, who had finally come to a decision on the movie. It went through without a hitch (except when Nick and Miley went into the kitchen to "pick out a soda" - yea right, the Jonas' must have had millions of sodas for the amount of time they were in there). It was only after the movie that things got...well, awkward. Again!

"Joe, I think I better get going." Olivia said.

"Yea?" he asked, his face falling just barely.

"Yea." she said softly, giving a half smile. They got up and walked to the door.

"I promise, things aren't normally this random and awkward." he said hurredly. She laughed again.

"No worries, I had fun."

"So I'll see you around?" he asked hopefully.

"For sure." she responded as he opened the door for her.

"Ok, bye Olivia." he said as she walked down the driveway. She turned, her skirt twirling with the sudden movement. Joe had to admit that she looked very nice when not in running garb.

"For the love, Joe, just call me Liv. All my friends do." she said, giving a bright smile. He smiled back.

"I'll see you around, Liv." he said.

"You've got my number. Use it." she said, giving him a wink and walking over to her car. Joe closed the door and gave probably one of the most enthusiastic victory dances he had ever done in his entire life.

And now, all he had to do was endure the wrath of his brothers, plus the wife.

X-X-X-X-X

alright, so basically almost all of the date scene at the house can be attributed to clairebear536. i only took poetic license on a couple of lines, but considering this is a spinoff, it's only reasonable that it uses their beginning in the intro!

and i do strongly encourage you go read "me and mr. jonas" considering it is basically the bomb dot com. peace out!


	2. I Don't Remember Groceries Being This Da

thank you for all the love! here's chapter 2... 

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 2: I Don't Remember Groceries Being This Dangerous

Joseph Jonas was faced with a delimma. It had been two days since he had hung out with Liv, and was quite uncertain if he should call her to hang out again or not. He had had a fantastic time, it seemed she really just _got_ him, but what if it didn't go as well as he thought it had? What if she was really counting down the seconds before she could make a polite exit? She had seemed to leave quite suddenly...

But she had said to "use" her number. Joe assumed that meant to call her - after all, what other possible use could he have for a phone number? If he thought enough, he could reason many different things to use a phone number for, but he was pretty sure that Liv was not a cryptic, merciless girl...

So he was sitting in the living room, on the couch, just looking at the iPhone on the coffee table. He was pretty sure that the world was still going on around him, even if he hadn't checked in a while (deep thought is very consuming, it seems). Finally, after a good hour or two of just looking at the phone, Nick and Kevin sat down on either side of him.

"Joe, what are you doing?" Nick started.

"Staring at the phone." Joe responded, narrowing his eyes at said phone.

"Um...why?" Nick continued.

"Why not?" Joe responded sarcastically. They were distracting him from his deep thought!

"Joe, we're talking to you because we care about you." Kevin said slowly. "So, why are you staring at the phone?"

"Because I can't decide whether or not to call Liv." Joe sighed submissively.

"Seriously?" Nick said. Kevin reached around behind Joe and smacked his head.

"Well, Joe, why wouldn't you want to call Liv?" Kevin began talking him through it.

"Cause I'm not sure if she had as good a time as I did the other day."

"Seriously?!" Nick said, laughing. After all, here was his self-proclaimed "pimp" brother, stressing out over a girl.

"Nick," Kevin said. "if you're not going to help, you should just keep the mouth shut."

"Alright, look Joe," Nick said, capturing his brother's attention away from the phone. "she came to hang out even AFTER you spilled all your coffee on her. She stayed and had conversations with you about pickles and CareBears and I don't even know what else. Then, there's always the really obvious choice where she TOLD YOU TO CALL HER!"

"That is pretty obvious." Joe said, nodding his head.

"So just call her." Kevin said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"She could reject me and my heart could be torn into a million thousand pieces and I would never be able to form an emotional bond again with any woman save my mother and the eventual wives of you two." Joe responded.

"That's a good point." Nick agreed.

"Both of you shut up. If she says no, then you'll go on with your life as per usual. So just call her!" Kevin interrupted. Joe set in his face of determination, and dialed her number.

Ring...ring...(click, thud, "ouch!")

"Hello?"

"Hey, Liv? It's Joe."

"Joe! Hey! Ouch, Tyler, get off of me...oh sorry, little brother." she said. He heard a door close. "Alright, I'm safe for the moment. What's up?"

"Not much, how about you?" Joe said idly. Kevin smacked his palm against his forehead.

"Joe, you're small talkin'. Now what's up?"

"I just...wanted to see if maybe you wanted to hang out today?" he asked, his voice nearing a squeak toward the end.

"...Well, I actually have a bunch of errands that need running..." Joe's face fell. "...but, it would be really awesome if you wouldn't mind coming with."

"Errands? Sure, no problem! I'm an excellent errand runner!" he said enthusiastically.

"Great! I'm planning to leave in about an hour - do you think you can be over here by then?" she asked.

"Oh yea, I'll just tag along with Nick when he goes to Miley's. Um...will you be driving?"

"I can, if need be."

"Need be." Joe said. Liv laughed.

"That's totally fine. So I'll see you in a bit?"

"Yea, I'll see you later!" he said. He heard a door open (on her line) and a war cry of "Haha I've found you!"

"Oh dear. Bye Joe!" she said quickly.

"Bye!" Click. Joe laid back against the couch, his hands behind his head. "See, I don't know what you two were worried about." he said. His brothers rolled their eyes.

"Whatever." Kevin said, pushing him and going back up to his room.

"You're lucky I'm going to Miley's." Nick said, pushing him from the other side and leaving. Joe remained on the couch, smiling.

...roughly an hour later...

"Ok, goodbye brother!" Nick said, shoving Joe out of the car.

"Hey, one would think that you were trying to get rid of me!" Joe said, pretending to brush himself off.

"Oh yea, cause it's not like I'm late to go see my girlfriend or anything." Nick said sarcastically.

"Oh yea, it's not like she lives next door. Tell the wife I say hi!" Joe said, waving enthusiastically. He then proceeded to walk up the driveway, trying not to skip (it was a very good day, after all). He spotted who he assumed to be Linda as she walked by the window on his way up; she spotted him as well, considering the door was open before he had even reached the steps.

"Hi, you must be Joe." she said. She was dressed in work attire, and was busying herself perfecting the same feathery blonde hair that Liv had. "I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a rush to get out, but I appreciate you running all those errands with Olivia - she says she doesn't mind, but she always has to..."

"It's not problem, really." Joe said, smiling at the obviously stressed woman.

"Who are you talking to - WHOA hi." Liv poked her head out of what must be the bathroom, considering there was steam exiting the room and she was dressed in a towel. She quickly positioned herself so that only her head was visible. "Maybe next time we'll get a warning, yes?" she asked of her mother.

"I'm sorry, dear, I'm in a bit of a rush - late for a meeting with a client. Now, where are my keys..." she began looking around fervently.

"Table, mom." Liv said tiredly.

"Oh, right. TYLER! I'm leaving! Come give me a kiss goodbye!" Linda called up the stairway. A young boy, probably about Frankie's age (6 or 7), came running down the hall and down the stairs, and up to his mother. He, unlike his sister, had dark hair and eyes, and was dressed in Spiderman pajamas.

"Bye mommy!" he said, wrapping his arms around her legs.

"Bye, dear." she said, kissing the boy's head. "Bye, Olivia!" she then yelled up the stairs, blowing a kiss.

"Bye mom!" Liv called back, blowing her mom a kiss back (still hiding in the bathroom). Linda then distractedly turned to Joe, looking as if she was about to kiss him goodbye as well. He stood and stared as she stopped, her hand halfway to his face. She, her dark eyes unfocused, patted his shoulder.

"You're not my child."

"No, no I'm not." Joe responded. Linda then moved out the door and out to her car, and Joe stood in the entry hall alone with Tyler.

"Hi. Tyler, right?" he asked. Tyler nodded, then started running back to his room and past the bathroom.

"Tyler, why aren't you dressed?! We're leaving in five minutes!" she said, now dressed in jeans and a long-sleeve grey tshirt that had "Texas A&M" printed in maroon. "Sorry, Joe, we're running a little late this morning." she said, finally coming to greet him with a hug in the entrance hall.

"It's cool." Joe said, waving it off with his hand. Suddenly, Tyler came running down the stairs again, having him dressed himself - complete with a bra on his head.

"And it seems my brother decided to wear my unmentionables as a hat. Excellent." Liv said, sighing. Tyler ran by and into a different room. "I'll be right back."

Joe laughed at the brother-sister antics. He knew exactly how younger siblings could be - oh, did he know...He began perusing the photos around the entrance hall. There were a lot of the three of them - Linda, Liv, and Tyler - but a taller, dark haired guy guest starred (one of them with just him and Liv - who was he?), and there was one all by itself of a man smiling on a beach. Joe realized this must be Liv's father, even if the only thing they had in common was the brilliant blue of their eyes. Joe was beginning to ponder who the other guy was when the largest beast he had ever seen in his entire life ambled into the entrance hall - and right up to Joe.

"Um...Liv..." he called to the other room as the Great Dane sat down directly in front of him, almost coming up to his chest.

"Yea?" she called back; he could hear the struggle as she tried to capture her brother.

"There's a small pony in your entrance hall."

"A small pony? Oh, I see Elvis decided to get off his lazy butt and meet our guest, didn't you baby?" she said, coming into the hall and kissing the dog. She had stolen underwear in one hand and brother over the other shoulder. "Let me just grab some shoes and we'll be on our way!" she said, leaning her brother down for Elvis to lick half the kid's face off in one go. Tyler laughed, and Joe had to smile at the interaction. "He's friendly, so no worries." Liv called as she carried her brother back up to their rooms.

Joe looked at Elvis. Elvis stared back at Joe. He tentively reached a hand towards the huge dog, flinching as the dog reached up to smell it. That only seemed to make it happier, considering it cocked its head to the side and began to wag his tail.

"Alright, we're good to go." Liv said, wandering back in with shoes and Tyler in tow.

"Um, wet hair?" Joe asked, making sure she hadn't forgotten something. She waved it off.

"My mother isn't here to tell me how I'm going to catch my death of a cold, so we don't mind." she explained, tossing a small notebook and pen in her (huge) purse and grabbing her keys. They then walked out to the driveway, where the choices were a Mustang or a Toyota.

"Shiny silver Mustang?" Joe asked hopefully. Liv laughed.

"No, huge honkin' 4Runner. The 'stang is my dad's." she explained.

"Where's your-" Joe began, but was cut off by a strong look from Liv and a nod in Tyler's direction. Joe was a bit embarrassed, but was determined not to allow the fast approaching awkward silence. "So, where are we going today?"

"Oh, where aren't we going today?" Liv muttered, but it seemed mostly to herself. "We've gotta run him over to the grandparents, then we're off to get books, prewrap and tape, shoes, spandex, and back to get him before going for groceries."

Joe rose his eyebrows. "All that, in one day?" he asked. "Wow."

"Yea, welcome to my life." she said with a smile, pulling into the driveway of a different house.

"You live this close to your grandparents?"

"Yep, they're the bomb dot com! Alright, kiddo, be good for Mimi and Papaw, alright?" she said, turning around to Tyler. "I'll come get you to go to the grocery store."

"Ok bye Olivia!" Tyler said, jumping out of the car and running up to where an older couple were waiting. They waved to Liv and Joe as they backed out and began their wild and crazy adventure.

"I'm really sorry about shushing you earlier." Liv said after a moment. "It's just, Tyler is still a little sensitive about our dad's passing and all." she looked ahead instead of at Joe.

"I'm sorry I brought it up." Joe said, the almost pained expression returning. She waved it off.

"You didn't know, no worries." she said, giving one of her heart-melting smiles.

"When did he die?"

"Four years ago - heart attack. I was almost fourteen then. It's been a little hectic the past couple years, cause my older brother Tom went off to college, then mom got a promotion, and Tyler started kindergarten, so sometimes it's a struggle to get everything done."

"You should just relax a little." Joe said with a smile, shaking her in the exact same way she had shaken him a couple days before.

"Sorry, I'm rambling." she said. "But I have to say, this is going to be a much better day since you're joining me."

"No problem!" Joe said with a bright smile.

"Here." she said, handing him her iPod. "Pick something for us to enjoy on the trip."

"What kind of stuff are you in to?" Joe asked, shuffling through her music choices.

"Right now? I'm currently in to classic rock and...well...I'll be honest, the Jonas Brothers." she said with a sheepish smile. Joe laughed at her slight embarrassment and turned the song to some random song - he wasn't quite sure what it was. Liv smiled, saying that it was a good choice, and sang softly along with the song. They then lapsed into what Joe hoped was a comfortable silence, because it was silent, and he was pretty comfortable with it. But what if it wasn't comfortable? She had laughed some, but he wasn't being his normal random self...he was being...chill. But so was she. So maybe it was ok? Ugh, dating was hard! Wait, this wasn't technically dating yet...they were just "hanging out." Did hanging out constitute as dating? Ugh, hanging out is hard!

It wasn't long until they reached the bookstore, which was to be their first stop.

"So you read a lot?" Joe asked.

"Eh, when I have time, which isn't often." she said. "You?"

"I can't." he said solemnly, looking at the pavement. She stared at him for a moment, a look on her face that said that she was trying to figure out if he was kidding or not.

"Yes you can." she said after a moment, laughing. Joe laughed as well.

"Ok, maybe a little." he admitted. She laughed again and gave him a light shove.

"Whatever. Next you'll tell me you're a pathological liar or something." she said. Joe adopted a shifty look about him.

"Did Kevin tell you that?! It's totally not true." he said, feigning shock. Liv laughed again.

"Well, but if it's true, then I technically can't believe you." she said.

"Oh, that's cold." he said, clutching his heart. "You've wounded me."

"Ay, pobre cito." she said and patted his chest. "No worries, we'll get you some therapy, and everything will be alright again.

And so it began. They went into the store, sifted through AP Calculus help books and novels by Sarah Dessen, and exited quick enough.

"Wow, you're hard core." Joe said with a laugh. "I'm pretty sure it takes longer to get Nick out of bed without the mention of the wife."

"And I'm sure you're an absolute angel in the morning." Liv said sarcastically.

"Well of course! I'm an angel at any time of day." he said with a huge smile as they arrived back at the car.

"Oh yea, I'll believe that when I see it." she said.

"Well, I'm an angel right now, and it's a time in the day." Joe said, still smiling.

"Psh...whatever."

"We've gotta work on your comebacks."

"Well, it's hard when the only person usually around you is seven years old and doesn't understand sarcasm." she said in a flirtatious tone. "The only thing he gets is 'whatever,' so that's all I use."

"Like I said, we'll work on it. I can teach you the art that is...THE COMEBACK!" Joe said with a valiant look on his face. Liv was laughing - ah yes, Joe was in the house!

"Alright, we'll save that for another day, we're here." she said, parking in front of an Academy.

"What is this nonsense?" Joe asked.

"I need prewrap and tape!" Liv answered, getting out of the car.

"Prewrap and tape? For what?"

"Well, tape is always good to have, and prewrap for my hair."

"Why do you need to wrap your hair?" he asked with a quizzical expression. She laughed.

"It's not to wrap my head up in - you make a headband out of it, cause the other ones fall off." she said.

"I'm proud to say I didn't know that." he said with a smile. She laughed again and linked arms with him.

"Don't worry, I'll just have to teach you all about girls and the girly things that they do." she said with a smile.

"Girl please. I know all about girls." Joe said, while dancing on the inside that she had linked arms with him. She was touching him! On purpose, no less!

"Uh huh." she said sarcastically. "Just help me here. What color tape?"

"Purple." Joe said quickly and with perhaps too much energy.

"Purple?"

"Purple."

"Why purple?"

"Why not purple?"

"You make a good point. Purple it is!" she said, grabbing a couple rolls, along with a thick yellow roll of prewrap. "Good to go."

The rest of the errands were relatively similar. They picked up a pair of shoes for Tyler, another legal pad for her mother, and some lunch at a small cafe (where they denied any mention of a food fight).

"Ok, so the next one is a bit of a drive, just warning you." she said as they climbed into the car again.

"Where are we going?"

"I need to go get game spandex from the Malibu Juniors store, but it's kind of out there."

"'Malibu Juniors'? I thought you were a senior?" he said with a smile. Thankfully, she laughed.

"No, it's the club I play volleyball for - it's called Malibu Juniors." she said with a smile.

"Ah, I see." Joe said with a nod. "Well, if it's so far out there...we should play a game!"

"Ok. What game?"

"Oh. I hadn't gotten that far yet." Joe said. "What do you suggest?"

"Truth?"

"Um, yea. I'd like the truth." he said, confused. She laughed again.

"No, Truth is the name of the game. It's kind of like Truth or Dare, only without the Dare part." Liv explained.

"But how do you win?"

"Well, if you ask a question that the other person doesn't answer, and you answer their next question, then you win. But you have to answer all the questions truthfully - that's the whole point of the game." she said.

"Oh. Sounds good!" Joe said. "I'll start."

Liv smiled. "Ok, go for it, hot shot."

Joe thought for a moment. "I'll start easy. How long have you been playing volleyball?"

"Umm...almost eight years now. Now it's my turn." she said after thinking for a moment. "If you weren't singing, what would your ideal job be?"

"Astronaut." Joe said immediately, and without hesitation.

"Really?"

"Yea! But I would just build my own rocket, and go in space whenever I want and just chill out there for a while until I got hungry or just wanted to come back to earth." he explained. She laughed again.

"Sounds like a great plan to me." she said. "Ok, your turn."

"If the moon were made out of spare ribs, would you eat it?" Joe asked suddenly. Uh oh, the randomness was back.

"I know I would." Liv responded with a smile. "Heck, I'd have seconds (1). Now, where in the world is Carmen San Diego?"

"Easy - Ecuador." Joe said. He was beginning to enjoy this game! "So...do you like...cheese?"

"My favorite's gouda (2)." she said in a feminine voice, and they both laughed. The game continued until they finally reached their destination, which was an oddly-shaped building that smelled of new athletic equipment and floor wax.

"And now, welcome to my home away from home." Liv said, flourishing her arms. She practically skipped over to a small shop off to the right, which held an abundance of extra uniforms, knee pads, and small, stretchy shorts. Liv greeted a tall, dark-haired girl working the counter, but Joe didn't really pay attention...until he was mentioned.

"Yea, that's Joe." Liv said to her friend, who laughed and whispered something in her ear. Liv gave a shocked expression, slapping her friend's arm. "Sonja! Honestly!"

"Are you talking about me?" Joe asked, coming up and standing next to Liv.

"Ay chica, es mas alto que ti. Muy bien (3)." she said appreciatively (and quickly), and Joe suddenly cursed his lack of interest in Spanish.

"No, Sonja, speak English for once in your vida." Liv said scoldingly. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Hi, Joe, I'm Liv's very good friend Sonja, and I'm from Spain, not Mexico." she said as she extended her hand.

"Um...I'm Joe." he said, feeling a little awkward. He thought Liv was tall for a girl (she was barely an inch shorter than him, sitting her at about 5'9"), but Sonja had to be at least six feet tall.

"What can I do for you two?" she asked.

"Game spandex." Liv answered after giving a reassuring smile to Joe; had he done well? He'd only introduced himself...

"For the both of you? Que lindos." (How cute) she said with a smile. Liv rolled her eyes.

"Clearly, Son, just me." she said. Sonja made a face.

"Be nice, I saved the last pair for you. You're the last one to get some, by the way." she said, pulling a green pair of spandex out from underneath the counter.

"You wear those? All by themselves?" Joe asked, incredulous. Liv turned to him.

"Well yea. Except with a uniform, and tall socks, and court shoes, and knee pads if I'm lucky..." she answered, but she lost Joe at 'well yea,' considering the spandex looked...well, short. She poked him a little, but he just stared at the shorts. She shoved him roughly, and he stumbled a couple steps.

"My bad! My bad!" he exclaimed, covering his eyes.

"You got a strange one there, Liv." Sonja stated.

"I know. Isn't it great?" Liv replied; Joe could hear the smile in her voice.

"Whatever, chica. I'll see you tomorrow." Sonja said, and Joe had to be led out of the shop, considering he had yet to remove his hand from over his eyes.

"Joe, you can look now. It's decent." Liv said with a laugh.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Whew. That was a close one." he said, dramatically wiping his brow.

"You're so odd sometimes." she said, tilting her head to the side with a smile.

"Yes, but it's one of my more endearing qualities." he said, bright smile on his face.

"Indeed." she said, patting his hand in a grandmother-like way and pulling out of the parking lot. They drove back to the neighborhood, picked up Tyler, and went to the grocery store - the final stop of the day. That's when things started going downhill.

It seems Tyler's favorite parts of grocery shopping were either throwing things into the cart that weren't supposed to be there, or throwing things at Joe's head. Before too long, Joe began throwing things back - after all, Joseph Jonas was no sitting duck! He got brief breaks in war, however, to flirt a little with Liv.

"Would you like to split a clementine?" he asked, holding the fruite in front of his face.

"Not right now, Joe." Liv laughed.

"Well then...would you like to split two clementines?" he asked again, holding a second one up next to the first. Liv laughed again, and was about to respond when a package of marshmallows came sailing through the air and landed on Joe's face. A small giggle told who was the culprit.

"Alright, that's it! No more mister nice Jonas!" Joe said, and began throwing every available (soft) food product at the child, who was valiantly fighting back.

"Children! Quit it!" Liv said, but her laughter ruined the effect. "Come on now, I said stop!"

Tyler then rounded on her, slapping his sister's leg with the flat side of a package of tortillas, giggling mercilessly.

"Oh, you asked for it now." she said as she joined in the fight. But it turned sour real quick.

Liv saw it before Joe did - a can of crushed pineapple in heavy syrup, flying towards his head. With a resounding clunk, it connected with his skull, and he went down.

"Oh, I've been hit..." Joe muttered slowly, lying in the middle of aisle twelve. Tyler was also on the floor - rolling with laughter.

"Tyler, quit! Pick all this stuff up." Liv said sternly before lowering herself next to Joe. "Are you ok?"

"Yea...I think so." Joe said, feeling his forehead. "Is there a bump?"

"A little bit. But we can put the frozen peas on it, and the swelling'll go down." she said, but she was struggling to keep her laughter in.

"You're laughing at me." Joe said, pouting. Her laughs became harder to contain.

"Well, dear, you just got bested by a can of pineapple." she said, and that was all she could get out before she had to laugh. Joe started laughing as well - after all, he prided himself on seeing humor in sometimes not-so-humorous situations...although this was definitely humorous.

"I suppose I was. Who knew pineapples had so much fight in them?" he said, still lying on the floor.

"Poor muffin. Does it hurt?" she asked, tenderly touching the spot.

"Eh, a little." Joe said, being manly.

"Aw, well then I suppose I don't have to kiss it and make it better then." Liv responded, helping him sit up.

"Oh, well...it couldn't hurt." Joe said with a shrug. Liv smiled, and tenderly moved his bangs away from his forehead before lightly touching her lips to the spot.

"Alright, let's just check out and go home before someone gets killed." she said, helping Joe up and telling Tyler that now he (meaning Tyler) was going to have to hold her hand the rest of the time now to ensure he didn't get in any more trouble.

Later, towards the end of the day, Liv insisted that they take Elvis and Tyler outside for a little bit. The boy was playing with the massive dog, long forgiven by Joe after he was offered a piece of the little boy's chocolate bar. Liv and Joe had decided that they weren't going to play, so instead were laying in the grass a few feet away.

"I really can't thank you enough for coming with me today." Liv said quietly.

"I'll tell you this, I've never had so much fun running errands before." Joe responded. "Oh look, that cloud looks like a rabbit!"

"No it doesn't, it looks like a bird on a tree."

"Rabbit! Look, see, there are the ears, and the fluffy little tail."

"Ah, you're killing me, Smalls (4)." she said. "Fine, it's a bunny."

"Thank you." Joe said definitely. They might have considered having more conversation, but a car honked from the street. They both sat up to see the Jonas family car.

"Who's that?" Liv asked, squinting in the afternoon sunlight.

"Oh, that's Kevin. Guess that means it's time to go." Joe said, getting up and helping his companion.

"Ah, tragic." Liv said. "Well, call me if you ever get bored and want to hang out again."

"I definitely will. No worries." he said, using her phrase.

"You're just makin' fun of me now." she said.

"Eh, maybe." Joe responded, adopting an innocent look. Kevin honked again - about three times.

"I'll see you later." Liv said, laughing.

"Mmk. Bye!" Joe said, giving her a hug and walking down to where Kevin was. He waved enthusiastically as they left, spotting her in the rear view mirror leading Tyler and Elvis back inside the house. Once they were safely out of sight, Joe threw himself against his chair, sighing dramatically.

"What's your deal?" Kevin asked.

"I am so in like with that girl." Joe responded. Kevin laughed at him.

"I take it you had fun then."

"Oh yes."

X-X-X-X-X

(1) - quote from Will Ferrell impersonating Harry Caray on SNL.  
(2) - quote from She's the Man, one of my most favorite movies.  
(3) - it means, "he's taller than you. very good"  
(4) - from The Sandlot, another favorite.

happy new years!


	3. I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours

ah, thank you all for all the love! y'all are the bomb dot com! 

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 3: I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours

Joe and Liv weren't able to hang out for the next couple of weeks - she always had something going on - but they were talking on the phone. A lot. It usually started with Joe calling to see if they could hang out, but then they would get distracted and end up just talking for hours on end. It was through this that Joe learned three major things about Liv.

1. Her life was practically a musical (she burst into song enough, and usually it was a song that he didn't know, and she would tell him to look up).

2. Traffic was one of her main hobbies (he always seemed to call when she was on her way somewhere, which she emphasized made him probably the most amazing person in the world at that moment).

3. She was busy. Always (this is pretty self explanitory).

Try as he might (and she might), they simply could not find a time to be together. She always had something going on, like practice or an anniversary or something of the like, and the moments she was always free, he would have to go and do a concert or a signing or something. And that is why, when Joe called her that idle Thursday afternoon, he was determined they were going to do something - together!

"Hey you!" Liv said, answering her phone.

"Hey! What are you up to?" Joe asked. Oh, the determination.

"I'm actually - WHOA getting cut off. Not cool, Honda!" she said.

Joe sighed. "Where are you off to now?"

"Gotta go pick Tyler up from a friend's house. Mom had to work late." she responded. He could hear the frustration she was trying very hard to hide.

"I'm sorry."

"Ha, me too." she said. "Anyway, enough of that. What's up?"

"Oh, I was just gonna see if you wanted to hang out sometime this Saturday." he asked. This was getting easier - Kevin didn't even have to help him this time!

However, there was silence on her end. Joe sighed again. "Where is it this weekend?"

"It's actually in town!" she reasoned. "You should come!"

"Me? Go to a volleyball tournament?" Joe asked, feigning feeling incredulous. She laughed.

"Well, I guess if you don't want to see a bunch of girls running around in spandex..." she said teasingly.

"What time should I be there?" Joe interrupted, making Liv laugh again.

"Well, we play at 8, 12:30, 2:30, 5, and 8. If you want, you can come at eight (PM), and we can go get food somewhere afterwards." she said.

"Won't you have to do team bonding stuff or whatever?" he questioned.

"After spending that much time together, we're all gonna be tired of each other." she said, laughing. "Besides, half the team has a birthday party to go to, so we've agreed to disperse afterwards."

"Sounds good, then!" Joe said, excited about what his determination could accomplish.

"I have to warn you, though," she said in a warning tone. "I'm going to have played five matches, probably the entirety of all of them, so I'm going to be sweaty and gross and not cute."

"Psh, I'll disagree with that." Joe said before he really realized what he was saying.

"Oh, well thanks!" she said. Oh, and he scores on accident! Excellent! "Also, I won't be able to talk to you before the game - gotta focus and all that."

"Well, but you'll know I'm there."

"Yea, but if I don't see you, then I can focus on the game, and the fact that you're there will be in the back of my mind rather than at the...front?" she said, confusing herself a bit.

"Alright, I get it, you don't want to see me..." Joe said, pretending to be hurt by the comment.

"No, not like that!" she rushed to explain. "I just really need to focus, my coach is really strict and if I suck then I'll be running punishment sprints-"

"It's cool, Liv." Joe laughed. "I was just kidding."

"Oh." she said shortly. "Well then..."

She gave him directions to the school they were playing and what court number, then made him repeat it a couple of times so that she knew he wouldn't get lost...too bad (how did she know him so well already?!). And so, come Saturday, Joe was happy for many reasons - one, he was seeing Liv. Dos, Kevin had agreed to drive him there. C, there was spandex involved, and it's always good when spandex is involved (except for that one time...but they didn't speak of that event).

Joe walked into the busy gym, looking for any way to find court three. He was going to ask someone, but they were all volleyball players, and tall, and strong looking. Finally, after wandering for a bit, a random mom asked if he was lost, and pointed out the court he was looking for. While trying to get by a different court, Joe felt as if he was going through Secret Service training, having to dodge bodies and volleyballs and parents. It suddenly made him glad for all those years with the marshmallow shooters. There was loud rap music blaring, probably to pump up all the teams. He made it over to the court, sitting at the top of the bleechers so he could lean against the wall. He spotted Liv immediately, her light, feathery blonde hair giving her away, even if it was tucked into a French braid. He watched as the team danced together off the side of the court as the refs made last minute adjustments. They seemed to enjoy this song that Joe had never heard - something about boots with fur, and jeans, and someone getting low.

There was an advantage to the music, though - Liv had some moves. Some sweet moves. Now, Joe was a little shocked that someone (let alone a whole group of people) would dance in public (even if he did it all the time), but he was particularly shocked as the music said "made it drop," and they all did - and not in the vollleyball sense! Joe found himself wondering why he had never gotten into volleyball before.

The game soon started, and he couldn't help but feel a little amazed. Last time he had seen volleyball, it had been random little girls just attempting to - what was it...- bump the ball? But this, this was...intense. These girls spiked the ball hard, and the other girls somehow got it up! He watched Liv, especially. She said she was a...setter? Was that the phrase? Anyway, she set up the other girls so they could spike it, and she was really good (to his untrained eye, at least). She had to run all over the court, put her body at the oddest angles, and yet the ball still seemed to go right where she wanted it. At one point she didn't even "set" it, she just spiked it over with her left hand! The girl was ambidextrous!

At least, he thought she was. When she went to serve, however, he was greeted by a surprise - Liv was left handed. Hmm, he didn't see that coming.

The game continued for the next hour or so, but Joe was never bored. Sporting events normally kept his attention relatively well, but he found himself (embarrassingly) enraptured by the way that Liv could move - she had never seemed very graceful before, but every move she made on the court was precise, purposeful. He decided that she probably spent all of her energy being coordinated on the court; after all, she had told him stories about running into walls and doorframes, tripping over sidewalk ramps and stairs, and hitting limbs on filing cabinets and desks. Ah, well. More power to her. Her team ended up winning, which made them all very excited. He heard a parent say that they were now first seat for the next day. They all began gathering their things, leaving after waving to their kids, or walking with them out to the parking lot. Liv was one of the last ones out; the coach apparently had a lot to say to her.

"Hey!" Joe said, going in for a hug once she broke free from the coach and gathered all of her stuff. She quickly put her hands up, warding him off.

"Not yet! Need to change out of sweaty jersey!" she said. He smiled.

"Oh, come on, I'm a guy. You think I care about a little sweat?" he said. She shook her head.

"You don't understand, I don't glisten like other girls, I sweat. Just let me change into a tshirt real quick - you can wait a few minutes!" she said, laughing and pushing his chest.

"Now, I have to say," Joe said as they walked towards a restroom. "you've been holding out on me when it comes to sweet dance skills."

Liv busted out laughing. "Oh, you mean my black girl dancing? Oh yes, it's a sight to see." she said sarcastically. "You should see me in an empty parking lot."

"If it's as intense as before, I say we go find an empty parking lot." Joe said with a smirk. She raised an eyebrow and laughed.

"Someone's a little frisky today." she said, still laughing. Joe shrugged.

"I'm only human." he said, shaking his head and sighing. She rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Just wait here. I'll be out in a second." she said, going into the restroom. Joe leaned against the wall, checking his imaginary watch and trying not to look creepy as he stood outside the girls restroom. Soon enough (quite in record speed, actually), Liv exited, having changed into a different long sleeved grey tshirt with "Malibu Juniors" and her team name in a dark shade of green and a redone French braid. She had taken off her long socks and knee pads, and the remaining court shoes seemed to have a good effect on her toned legs.

"Do you care if I walk around in these?" she asked, referring to her green spandex shorts. Joe shrugged.

"Well, I suppose it won't be too embarrassing." he said. She exhaled dramatically.

"Good. Because I forgot all other forms of pants at home. Shall we?" she said.

"We shall." Joe responded, offering his arm. She took it.

"Thanks for coming tonight, it's great to see you." Liv said as they walked out to her car.

"Really, it was my pleasure." Joe said, playing up the charm (or thinking he was, at least). "You're really good."

He could tell she was blushing, even if it was dark outside. "Thanks. I've worked really hard to become so. I'm hoping to play in college - but I'm probably not tall enough."

"I'm sure you can play college if you really want to." he responded. She smiled in gratitude.

"Thanks. So what all did you do today?" she asked. Apparently she parked about as far away from the gym as possible.

"Well, I chilled at the homestead, wrote a couple lyrics, bothered Nick and the wife, dominated Kevin in some tennis..."

"Tennis? Really?" she asked. "I didn't know you played."

"We all do - kind of our thing. Except I didn't really dominate Kevin...he's safe for another day." Joe said, adopting the shifty look again.

"I'm sure he is." Liv said, laughing. "So, where do you want to go eat?" she then asked as they arrived at the car. She tossed her stuff in the trunk before meeting Joe up front.

"Anywhere's fine with me - I'll eat anything remotely edible." he said, waving his hand.

"Great. So we're both indecisive and not picky. Excellent." she sighed. "Well, around here we have a sandwhich shop, a pizza place, some burger joints, and a chicken place I think."

"All of that sounds good." he said. "You're the one who's been playing all day, go for whatever you want."

"Sandwhiches it is then." she responded with a smile, finally pulling out of the parking lot. It was a short drive to the shop, which was small and had the family feel. They ordered their food and seated themselves at a small, two-person table in the corner. It was late, so there weren't any other customers besides the two. Which was fine with them, considering the randomness of the conversation they were having.

"I'm telling you," Joe said with dramatic gestures. "the egg had to come first, because of all the-"

"But the chicken came first," Liv insisted. "it's the only reasonable deduction."

"Oh yea? How so?" Joe challenged.

"Well, the egg would need the chicken to incubate it."

"The sun could do that."

"But it would also need the mama to take care of it!"

"It could have been raised by wolves or something. It's happened before."

"We're talking about a chicken here, not Remus and Romulus."

"Huh?" Joe asked.

"Mythology. Remus and Romulus were raised by wolves, and they both began to build a city. But Remus jumped over Romulus' wall or something, so Romulus killed him and founded Rome. And the chicken came first."

"Did not!"

"It had to!" Liv said. They were both laughing and struggling to continue the argument.

"Why?"

"Because where would the egg come from if the chicken didn't lay it?" she said, adopting a triumphant look and throwing her hands into the air. "What up!"

"Easy," Joe said, waving it off. "God put it there."

"If God were to put anything there, he would put the chicken."

"But if He put the chicken, then how would it reproduce?"

"Fine, He put two chickens."

"Maybe He put two eggs." Joe countered. Before Liv could retort, the manager of the sandwhich shop came up to them.

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt," he said. "but we're closing now. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Oh, no problem." Liv said, gathering her trash. Joe did the same.

"Yea. The food was really good, by the way." he said. The manager smiled in thanks, and watched as they left before turning off all the lights, locking up, and driving away. He got out before the pair because Liv, once again, decided to park really far away from the door, and the manager was in the front row.

"Why do you park so far away?" Joe said, pretending to be huffing and puffing.

"Because I like to exercise." she responded, unlocking the car and climbing in.

"You know," Joe said. "we're in an empty parking lot. By ourselves."

"Oh yea, THAT isn't creepy." Liv said, laughing. Joe furrowed his brow.

"Yea, come to think of it, that phrase so did not sound as creepy in my head." he said. "Anyway, let's dance!"

"Alright, but I'm not dancing by myself, mister." Liv said. "C'mon, pick a song then." she said defeatedly, tossing her iPod over and getting back out of the car. Joe looked at the thing as if it was some foreign device - he had no idea about dance music, it wasn't really his style. And she wouldn't dance without him...he had a feeling this would be embarrassing.

"Well, c'mon then." she said, leaning against the door frame. Joe began fumbling with the playlists - there wasn't anything he recognized! Liv began tapping her fingernails against the metal of the doorframe.

"Would ya chill out, woman?" Joe said. It was supposed to come off as harsh (pretending, of course), but he had a huge smile on his face that gave him away. He finally picked a random song he didn't know, but it seemed to have serious potential. The beginning came on, and with a cry of "aww yea, my jam!", Liv started dancing - but definitely not like it was at the court.

"C'mon, Joe! Dance with me!" she said, jumping around to the beat. Joe joined her, trying to pop it (which seemed to work better than he expected, even if she was laughing). He had to admit, dancing alone in the parking lot in a style that SO did not match the music was a lot of fun - more fun than a lot of things Joe had to do lately.

"You gotta drop it!" Liv said after a while, still laughing. After all, they were two random teenagers dancing in a parking lot. Joe attempted the whole "drop it" concept, but it was only met with more laughter. "Uh oh, hold up! La'Joe droppin'! La'Joe droppin'! (1)"

"What? You sayin' DJ Danger doesn't have skillz?" Joe said, his smile betraying him again. "Bring it on!"

"Hold up! Dance off!" Liv said, smiling as well. The song switched to a different hip hop song as they continued to break it down in the middle of a parking lot. Joe was really enjoying this - tonight, he wasn't a rock star who was running all over the place all the time. No, he was another kid, dancing in a parking lot with a girl he hoped to consider his girlfriend in the near future.

By the time the second song was fading out, both were out of breath from the gangsta moves they were rocking.

"That's...really intense..." Joe puffed out.

"That's...true..." Liv agreed, both regaining their breath as the chords of a familiar song came on.

"Hello beautiful, how's it goin'..." Nick's voice came through the speakers.

"May I have this dance, m'lady?" Joe said, flourishing his hand in a low bow. Liv, smiling widely accepted his hand.

"Why of course, good sir!" she said as they stood a little less than an arms length apart, her hands clasped behind his neck and his around her waist.

"This is a really good song," Joe said a few moments later. "which awesome band sings it?"

"Oh, one of my favorite bands ever, the Jonas Brothers." Liv answered seriously. "Have you heard of them?"

Joe shrugged. "Once or twice. I hear that the middle brother is stunningly attractive, though."

"Well, I might have to agree." Liv said with a smile. "He's also ridiculously helarious, and so much fun to be around."

"Really?" Joe said. "I hear he's been hanging out with this really cool girl lately. Apparently they met because he spilled coffee all over her."

"Hmm." Liv said, still smiling. "She must be a really lucky girl, to hang out with Joe Jonas all the time."

"Oh, but he considers himself lucky - she's just really amazing, and he feels like he's known her forever."

By now, they had stopped dancing, and were at a complete standstill right next to the truck. Liv moved a couple inches so that she was leaning against it, Joe right in front of her. They were silent as they slowly moved closer, eyes fluttering in anticipation. Right as Joe was about to be assertive and just kiss her already, her phone rang. Loudly.

Liv squeezed her eyes shut and groaned. She looked at the caller ID.

"It's my house." she said quietly, apologetically. "I have to answer it."

"Of course." Joe said understandingly. "Go for it."

She gave him a half smile and answered. "Hello?"

"OLIIIIIIIVIAAAAAAA!" Joe could hear Tyler's voice.

"Tyler, sweetie, I'm right here. You don't have to yell." Liv responded quietly, mouthing "I'm sorry" to Joe. He waved it off, saying it was no big.

"Mommy says you need to be home now." he said at in his inside voice.

"Ok, just tell mommy I'll be home in a half an hour, ok?" she said, wincing.

"Ok! Bye, sister!"

"Bye, brother." she said, hanging up the phone. She turned to Joe, the apologetic look still on her face. "I've gotta get home now."

"Fo sho. It's pretty late anyway." Joe said with a half smile. She smiled back.

"Alright, come on. Get your booty in the car. I'm gonna hafta speed if I'm dropping you off first."

"Girl, please. We live like, five minutes apart." Joe said, just thankful things weren't awkward after their almost-kiss (which was also frustrating. first pineapples, then this. Tyler was not developing a good track record with Joe).

The ride was relatively uneventful. They carried on just like they had before, only they hugged a little tighter when she dropped him off at his house. He contemplated kissing her cheek, but decided maybe to save it for a different time, just in case.

"Hey, wait." he said before she left. "Are you busy next Saturday night?"

Liv checked her mental calendar. "Actually, no. We don't have a tournament for once." she said happily. Joe smiled.

"Don't make plans, ok?" he said.

"Even with you?" she responded cheekily. He rolled his eyes, smiling.

"Well, I was hoping you would make plans with me, but if you don't want to..." he said, looking at the ground and trailing off. She patted his hand.

"Saturday evening, I'm all yours." she said, smiling. He smiled back at her.

"Excellent. I'll call you with the details, alright?" he said.

"Ok. I'll catch you later!" she said, blowing a kiss. But it wasn't an intimately blown kiss, but it wasn't the one she would give to a friend either.

"Peace out." Joe said, and she left with a wave. He gave in to his desire to skip up the driveway to his house (even though he got tired half way up), and proceeded up to his room. Kevin was a little worries, considering he didn't stop to bother him and Nick, but let it go (didn't want to jinx it, after all).

...a little less than a week later, as in Saturday morning...

"I still don't get what you mean by 'dress nice'." Liv said to Joe over the phone.

"You know, just dress...nice." Joe said. He didn't quite know what he meant either.

"But how nice? Like, jeans and a nice top nice, skirt and nice top nice, or dress nice?" she asked.

"There's a difference?"

"Of course there's a difference." she said. Joe stopped Kevin in the hall.

"Hey Kevin," he said, putting the phone to his shoulder. "what would you define as 'nice'?"

"Nice for what?" Kevin asked.

"For Liv, tonight." Joe said with a suggestive nod.

"You mean for our-"

"Yes." Joe interrupted before the surprise could be taken away.

"I dunno. Get her to ask Miley." Kevin said, shrugging and walking away.

"Brilliant, brother! I knew mom kept you for a reason!" Joe said. He pulled the phone back up again. "Kevin suggests to just ask Miley."

"Oh, good plan. I'll see you tonight, then?" she said.

"Yes, your ride will pick you up at about 7."

"I have a ride?" she asked, surprised.

"Yea!" Joe said.

"As in, I don't have to drive me for once?" she said, rather excited.

"Precisely."

"You are my favorite person right now." she said in a hushed tone. Joe's smile grew.

"I know." he said. He could practically feel her roll her eyes.

"I'll see you later, Joe." she said, laughing.

"See ya!" Joe said, and they hung up. He allowed himself to "shake them dice and roll 'em" in victory before skipping over to the limo to go get ready for the sound check.

Meanwhile, Liv called Miley, got the information she needed, and got dressed in her favorite black dress that was neither too casual nor too formal, blow-drying her feathery blonde hair to strait perfection and pulling on her favorite red and white polka dot flats (needed a pop of color after all). It was odd to her, sitting in the back of a limo all by herself, but she realized what was going on when they pulled up to a well-known concert venue, and the driver handed her a (excellently seated) ticket and a backstage pass before leading her past the crowds and into the concert. Joe had really gone all out on this one!

The Jonas Brothers opened the show, and they were excellent. Liv could not have imagined a better way to spend a Saturday night - or any other night of the week, for that matter. She was very close to the stage - how had Joe gotten such amazing tickets? Perhaps because he was in the band...either way, she was particularly excited when he came to touch her extended hand, and not the two girls on either side (both of which were very angry). She also had to laugh, because both Nick and Kevin definitely nodded and winked (respectively) in her direction (which seemed to appease the girls around her, them thinking that it could possibly be for them). After that, Hannah Montana came on and did her piece, and while Liv wasn't an overly crazy fan of Hannah, she did think the performance was great. It wasn't until after the concert that she got to talk to Joe.

"Hey! You all did amazing!" she said, greeting the brothers with hugs (although Joe's was longest by far). "Thank you so much for bringing me here!"

"It was no problem." Joe said, bringing out Rico Suave again. "I figured, you showed me what you always do, so I should show you what I always do."

"Well, I'm thinking yours is just a little more intense than mine." she said, laughing.

"It's all relative." Kevin said, stepping into the conversation.

"Yea," Nick said, piping up. "Joe said that you like, ran into the bench to save a ball last week."

Liv winced. "Yea, my knee is still a little bruised." she said. Then, Hannah came up to the group.

"Hey y'all!" she said. "Great show tonight, yea?"

"Oh yea." Kevin said, giving the pop star a high five.

"Hannah," Joe said, catching her attention. "this is Olivia. Liv, this is Hannah Montana."

Hannah and Liv shook hands. If Liv could tell that all three brothers were hiding smiles, she didn't show it. "It's so great to meet you. Your music is great." she said.

"It's great to meet you," Hannah responded. "you should hear the way Joe goes on about you sometimes-"

"Aaaaaand we're gonna exit, stage left." Joe said, trying to pull Liv away. However, she held herself steadfast.

"Wait, what does he say?" she asked Hannah, eyes wide and smile bright. Hannah leaned in conspiratorily.

"Well, he says that you're probably the most amazing girl he's ever met." she said with a smile.

"Ok, Hannah, we can stop embarrassing Joe now..." Joe said. Nick and Kevin stood to the side, laughing at their brother's discomfort. Liv, however, was blushing.

"And, that you look really amazing in spandex." Hannah finished. Joe hid his face in shame - how could he get so embarrassed over one girl? Liv turned to face him, hands on her hips.

"Is this true?" she said, a stern look on her face.

"No." Joe squeaked. She perked an eyebrow. "Maybe." he said. She raised both eyebrows. He sighed, throwing his hands down. "Ok, yes, I did." he said, hanging his head. Liv stared at him silently for a moment before practically jumping on him with a hug.

"Why didn't you tell me that?! I'm really self-conscious because I have thunder thighs!" she said, holding him tight. He patted her back awkwardly.

"Well, if I had known it would've gone over this well..." he trailed off with a smile. Kevin and Nick rolled their eyes. Even when he was embarrassing it worked! Maybe there really was something special about Joe...eh, probably not. Probably something "special" about Liv.

Speaking of, she finally pulled away. "I should probably get going, it's pretty late." she said. "But you all did an amazing job tonight! Bye!" she gave Nick, Kevin, and Hannah a hug, and walked out with Joe after he announced that he would...well, walk her out.

"They're so made for each other." Hannah remarked shortly.

"Indeed, my dear. Indeed." Nick said. Kevin simply nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Joe walked Liv to the backside of the venue, where another limo was waiting for her.

"I really can't thank you enough for all of this." she said. "The concert, the ride...it's probably the coolest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"It's no big, really." Joe said with a smile. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Behind them, the limo driver honked twice. What is it with people being in rushes?

"I guess that's my cue." she said, jerking a thumb towards the limo. "Bye."

"Bye." he replied, giving her a huge hug. She started to get in the limo, but then paused. Without overthinking the action, she stepped back up to Joe and gave him a kiss before waving and getting into the limo. Joe stood, shocked, and watched the limo drive off, and around the corner, and out of sight. He then snapped back to reality, and did probably the biggest, most extravegant victory dance he had ever done in his entire life.

Nick and Kevin weren't able to hear the end of it that night.

X-X-X-X-X

1 - modeled after a helarious video by Sarah Hyland called "La'Sarah." for mature audiences only.

well, there you go! chapter three!

hey, if anyone has an idea of something they would like to see, i can try my best to work it in. as it turns out, i don't have 20 extremely creative ideas like this story's sister (Me and Mr. Jonas by ClaireBear536 - go read it! now!), so i'm all ears!

leave some love! peace out!


	4. She Makes Me NervousShe's Dangerous

well, not much love for the last chapter. ah, well. for those who like this, here's the fourth installment! 

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 4: She's Dangerous - But Worth It

"I still can't believe you talked me into this." Joe said, standing in the middle of the racquetball court.

"'Talked you into this'? Who's the one wearing a sweatband with matching wrist-sweatbands?" Liv said, laughing.

"I told you, they were on sale." Joe said.

"Uh huh." she replied. "Let's just play, yea?"

"Ok, but I'm warning you, I'm probably going to be really amazingly good." Joe said. Liv rolled her eyes, but smiled and laughed. It was supposed to be an idle Saturday afternoon spent wandering about, but Liv had mentioned working out and Joe made a subtle suggestion that he was probably stronger than her...and that had somehow led to a racquetball challenge.

"You're going down." Liv said, serving the ball lightly. After all, they had to warm up a little first. Joe, however, hit the thing as hard as he could. Liv chased after the ball, opting not to warm up as well as the slammed the ball against the wall. Joe had to admit, this was pretty intense - a little more intense than tennis with Kevin. Perhaps cause it was faster game.

"That's right! That's what I thought!" Joe said later as he scored another point.

"You're only winning by two." Liv pointed out.

"Shoot, girl, but that's all I need to win!" he replied, twirling his racquet. Liv smiled, shaking her head, and prepared herself to receive his serve. The game went on for a while, so long that Liv's ponytail was falling out with all the movement and Joe's hair was starting to recurl because of his sweat.

"Alright, this is your game point," Liv said. "Don't mess up."

Joe looked back and scrunched his face up, sticking his tongue out. "Don't worry, I won't." he said, and served the ball. It was a long rally, but Joe was sure that he would get her with this hit as he swung as hard as he could, making perfect contact. The ball flew, hitting the front wall and bouncing of hard, taking one skip, and bouncing off the back wall. And strait into Liv's backside. They both stood, a little shocked, as the ball bounced off and rolled into the corner. Liv's jaw fell as she stared at Joe, wide eyed. Joe, however, suddenly burst into laughter.

"You hit my bum!" Liv cried, but she was laughing too.

"You should've...seen your...face..." Joe said, his speech interrupted by laughter, which he was having trouble stopping. He collapsed against the wall of the court, still laughing.

"Now you're laughing at me!"

"Do you want me to rub it for you?" Joe asked, still laughing unceasingly. He didn't wait for a response, re-collapsing against the wall.

"Oh yea? Let's see how you like it." Liv said, taking her racquet and hitting Joe's backside with it. His laughter stopped as he turned to stare. The next four words sealed his fate.

"Oh no you di-in't." he said, adding a snap, getting close to her face.

"Maybe I did." she replied, staring back with her eyebrows raised. Joe smirked (quite evilly), and swung his own racquet around to hit her again. The actual racquetball game was soon forgotten as an all out brawl erupted on the court. Joe had the advantage of having longer arms, but Liv was just a little bit quicker. They chased each other around the small room that made the court, unaware of the racket (pardon the pun) that they were making. At one point, Joe fell down, and laid down strait on the floor, on his back.

"Haha!" he taunted. "You can't get me now!"

"You wanna try that?" Liv said, grabbing him under his knees and flipping him over. He yelled, wide eyed and open mouthed, as he was turned onto his stomach and assaulted with a racquetball racquet. All of the sudden, someone knocked on the glass door of the court. They both stopped (Liv her hitting, Joe his screaming) and turned to the door quickly as a worker at the gym opened the door.

"If you two are finished using the court for racquetball," he stated as if he was containing his anger, "it would be nice if you could leave so that others who would like to play can get their time in."

"Oh, right, sorry." Liv said, grabbing their stuff as Joe struggled to get up from the floor.

"We'll just be leaving now." he said, following Liv as she hurried out of the room, both of them having to contain laughter at the unusually stern look the man was giving them. They collapsed on a bench outside the weight room, laughing.

"Ah, well that was good cardio." Joe said as the laughter slowed.

"Definitely." Liv muttered sarcastically. "Remind me never to play racquetball with you again. I think you left marks."

"Aw, poor little baby." he said in a baby voice. "You're just sour cause I won."

"You didn't win - you cheated." she replied, smacking the side of his leg.

"Pssshh, how did I cheat?" he asked.

"You assaulted the other player, namely, me!" Liv said as if it were obvious.

"I did not assault you - you just couldn't get out of the way fast enough!" Joe countered, laughing. Liv waved it off.

"Whatever. You assaulted me."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"This argument is going no where." she said.

"That's true." he agreed.

"I think we should just continue our challenge - I mean, workout." she stated.

"I concurr."

The pair then got up from the bench, entering the relatively empty weight room. It all started out innocent enough - Joe lifted his weights and Liv lifted hers, but it soon turned into a friendly (and flirty) competition as to who could lift more weight.

"Psh, your tiny little weights cannot handle mine." Joe said, impersonating Arnold Schwarzenegger as Liv did bicep curls with a 10 pound weight.

"Well I'm trying to tone, not bulk up, Governator." Liv replied, lifting her weights with measured precision.

"You got that? YES!" Joe said, thoroughly excited. Liv perked an eyebrow. "Sorry, Nick and Kevin always insist that my Schwarzenegger impression sounds like a Middle-Eastern hillbilly. But you get me!"

Liv started laughing. "I got your back, homie." she said, giving him another heartmelting smile. They continued the light workout without fault...until it came time to bench press.

"You only use two ten-pounds each?" Joe asked incredulously. Liv stuck out her tongue.

"We've been through this - no bulkage, remember?"

"Righto, sorry." Joe replied, returning to his spotting. When his turn came, he loaded on the weights - probably as much as he weighed.

"Joe, I'm not sure about this..." Liv said, eyeing the bar warily. Joe waved her off.

"I'll be fine - I'm strong like an ox." he reassured her. She raised her eyebrows and shook her head, but took her post spotting him anyway. He lifted the bar fine, went down fine...then, he got stuck.

"Alright, back up Joe." Liv said, nodding in encouragement.

"Uh oh." was all Joe said before the bar was dropped the remaining couple inches onto his chest. The wind was knocked out of him, and Liv immediately began trying to pull the bar back up.

"I told you! Goodness, Joe..." she said, trying to lift it off of him. His face began turning red, and the bar suddenly rolled dangerously close to his neck. "JOE, WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T DIE! IF YOU DIE, I'LL KILL YOU!" Liv exclaimed, finally getting enough of her body under the bar in order to be able to lift it off of Joe's esophagus and back onto the support bars. She collapsed on the ground next to the bench as Joe regulated his breathing.

"You can laugh, you know." he gasped, noticing that she was shaking trying to hold in her laughter.

"I'm not laughing." she said, though she clearly was.

"Seriously, go ahead." Joe insisted. "If I hadn't fractured my lungs, I'd be laughing my head off right now." he said. Liv took it as her cue and busted out laughing, clutching her stomach. A couple minutes later, she was still going. "Alright, that's enough." Joe said pointedly.

"Ah hah...oh. Ok, I'm good now." she said, finally calming after a moment. "Are you ok?"

"Other than the fractured lungs? Good to go." Joe said, turning his head to look at her. She stood on her knees next to the bench, resting her head on her hand.

"Poor muffin. Where does it hurt?" she asked, her blue eyes suddenly sparkling a little more than usual.

"Well, right here." Joe said, pointing to his sternum. He watched as Liv silently moved and gently pressed her lips to the spot he had pointed at.

"Anywhere else?" she asked.

"Right here, too." he said, touching his collarbone. Liv smiled, scooting up and kissing the soft skin just below the collarbone.

"Any more?" she asked again, smiling by now.

"Right here, a little bit." he replied, touching his lips. Liv smirked, scooting a little more so she could softly place her lips on his. He pushed himself up onto one elbow, placing his free hand on her cheek and returning the kiss. After a few moments, she pulled away.

"Is that better?" she asked breathily.

"Eh, could use a little more." Joe replied, pulling her face back to his. Her hands moved into his now curly hair, submitting herself to more kissing. However, they were soon interrupted by an annoying "Hem, hem". They broke apart abruptly, turning to see...the same worker that had kicked them out of the racquetball courts, standing there with his arms folded.

"You two again, I see." he said snarkily.

"Seriously, Dolores? (1)" Joe said.

"You've got a really awful sense of timing." Liv bluntly told the worker.

"If you two are finished with the...weights-" he started.

"Yea, we get it. Leave." Joe said, getting up from the bench.

"Peace out." Liv said as they powerwalked out of the weight room.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that guy was creeping on us." Joe said. Liv laughed.

"I'm going to have to agree with you - he couldn't have gotten us both times by accident." she agreed as they walked towards the locker rooms. "Where do you want to go eat?"

"It's always about food with you." Joe said with a smile on his face.

"What? I've got a fast metabolism." Liv said, shrugging.

"Hopefully, considering you eat like a twelve year old boy." Joe said, his smile getting wider.

"Well, would you rather me not eat?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"Of course not."

"That's what I thought." she said. "So, food?"

"Let's go see a movie." Joe said suddenly. Liv stopped, staring with her brow furrowed.

"Food..." she said, holding up one hand. "...to movies?" she finished, holding up the other hand. She was trying to figure out how Joe could get "movie" from "food."

"We could eat at the movies!" he insisted.

"Why the sudden interest in the movies?" Liv asked.

"I don't know...I feel like seeing a movie or something. Random urge." Joe said, shrugging.

"Well, ok." Liv said, shrugging as well. "What shall we see?"

"Eh, I hadn't quite gotten that far yet." he said, adopting a thoughtful look on his face. "I guess we can just see what's playing when we get there, eh?"

"Sounds good to me." she said, moving towards the locker room entrance. They showered (separately), but Joe was sitting outside the two locker rooms for quite a while until Liv finally emerged, clean and dressed in jeans and a tshirt.

"What took you so long?" he asked. "I feel like I've been waiting for like, twelve years."

"Shoot, do you know how long it takes to blow dry this?" Liv said pointedly, holding up a chunk of long, blonde hair.

"Apparently twelve years." Joe said, getting up and walking out next to her.

"But it's worth it, because now it smells good and is sinfully soft." she said, flinging her hair into his face. "See?"

Joe did see - her hair did smell really good, and it was extremely soft. "I suppose it was worth it, then." he said as they climbed into the car.

"I'm glad you decided it's ok." Liv said sarcastically, laughing. Joe suddenly spazzed. "What's wrong with you?" she asked him.

"Oh, I just thought of something - I need to call Kevin to see if he can pick me up." Joe explained.

"I can take you home, you know that." she said, suddenly feeling a little self conscious. Did he not want to ride with her anymore?

"Oh, I know." Joe said quickly. "But you always take me home...and almost every where else we go. Plus, Kevin and I are planning this really elaborate prank on Nick, so we need to go and get the sufficient supplies."

"I see." Liv said, nodding. "What are you doing to poor Nick?"

"That, my dear, is a secret." Joe said solemnly. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you, and that would suck."

Liv laughed. "You know, I bet Kevin would tell me if I asked him." she said, whipping out her cell phone.

Joe shook his head. "Nope, Kevin is very hard core with all the secrets, he's the one - hey, what are you doing?"

"Calling Kevin." she explained as if it were obvious.

"How do you have his cell phone number?" Joe asked, not believing her.

"I got it from him once, so that I could call him when you don't answer and find out where you are." Liv explained. "I've only had to do it once - hey Kevin!"

"I don't believe this..." Joe said, holding the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

"Oh, I was just curious what you and Joe were doing to poor Nicholas tonight." she asked. Joe shook his head again.

"He's not going to tell you..." he said as Kevin answered her.

"What do you mean you 'can't tell me'? Ugh, you both better watch your backs, I'm going to get you both..." she said menacingly. Joe could hear Kevin laugh. "Oh," Liv continued. "Joe needed to talk to you - he's right here." she handed the phone over to Joe.

"Yo K-bro, what's the delio?" Joe said.

"Joe, we've been through this..." Kevin said tiredly.

"What it do. Hey listen, Liv and I are going to see a movie, you think you can pick me up afterwards?"

"For sure. Just text me what time and where, okay?" Kevin answered.

"Will do, home skillet." Joe responded.

"Alright, peace out, brother." Kevin said, making fun of Joe a little bit.

"Word to your mother." Joe responded, hanging up before Kevin could once again say anything about how they had the same mother (supposedly). "Alright, we're good to go."

"Awesome, cause we're here." Liv replied, pulling into a parking spot. Before long, they were standing in front of the listings, trying to decide what to go see.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks?" Joe threw out.

"Nah, I've seen it, and it's not cute enough to see twice." Liv said. "National Treasure?"

"Saw it with the brothers last week." Joe said. "One Missed Call?"

"Which one's that one?" she asked, looking to him. "I haven't heard of it."

"Really?" Joe asked, already formulating a plan in his mind. "It's about these people who get a voicemail, and it's their death. Then they hear it, and they die." he explained.

"Sounds scary." Liv said, biting her lip. "I don't really do well with scary movies."

"It's not that bad, Nick saw it with Miley a few days ago." he insisted. Nick had also mentioned that Miley was practically on top of him the whole time because it was pretty frightening.

"If you say so..." she said reluctantly. "If I can't sleep tonight, I'm blaming you."

"Sounds like a fair deal." he said, walking up to buy the tickets. They did the usual movie thing - got food, drinks, seats, etc, right before the movie started. As soon as the movie began, Joe realized that his plan was so going to work. The first scary moment that happened, Liv grabbed onto his hand, only letting go a few minutes after the moment had past. By the time things really got rolling, Liv was hiding her face in Joe's shoulder, and the only thing Joe could think was that hopefully she couldn't hear his heart beating, because the movie was freaking him out as well. But he wouldn't show it - he was a man, after all, and men simply do not show that they are afraid of measley things like movies! Even if there was a psycho killer who called people and then KILLED THEM!

"That was the worst movie I've ever seen. Ever." Liv said as they walked out of the theatre - but she was laughing. "That was not a good idea."

"You didn't even see half of it! You were hiding." Joe responded, laughing with her.

"Well I wouldn't have to hide if we had picked a safer movie! Goodness, now I'm going to freak out every time my phone rings..." she continued, linking her arm with his.

"Surely you won't freak out every time..." Joe said, holding the door open for her as they exited the cinemaplex.

"I will. So now I'm afraid I won't be taking your calls. Sorry." she said in a way that Joe knew she was kidding.

"I suppose I'll just have to show up at your house randomly every time I want to talk to you then." Joe said. He then spotted Kevin's car a couple rows in. "Ah, there's the darling brother now." he said, tapping on the window. Kevin looked, then rolled down the window.

"Finally." he said. "I thought you two had gotten lost."

"Not this time." Joe responded, leaning down to rest his elbows on the open window.

"Hi Kevin!" Liv said, pushing Joe over so that she could rester her elbows on the window instead.

"How's it going, Olivia?" Kevin asked as the two got in a push war for the spot on the window.

"Fabulous! So, about this prank you two are pulling on Nick..." she said, finally hip-checking Joe so hard that he collapsed on the asphalt.

"I still can't tell you. I'm sorry." Kevin replied solemnly.

"Can't I even get a hint?" Liv said. "I would hate to have to get you two back for not including me on this."

"Girl, please." Joe said from where he was still on the ground. "Nothing you think you can do can scare us."

"Alright, fine." Liv said, standing up and holding up her hands in submission. "I give up. The only thing left to say is...watch yourselves."

"We'll be careful." Kevin said sarcastically. "Joe, you ready yet?"

"Yea, let me just walk Liv to her car real quick." Joe said, popping up. "Be right back."

"Bye Kevin," Liv said, waving to him. He gave a wave and a smile before looking at Joe with a look that clearly said "hurry up."

"See? Told you he wouldn't tell you." Joe said with a smirk. Liv sighed.

"Yep, I guess I should've believed you." she said, pretending to be sorrowful about it.

"Well hey, maybe next time." Joe responded, tipping her chin up. She gave a cheesy smile.

"Sounds great." she said, pulling her keys out of her bag as they came up on her car. She fiddled with them idly as they stood next to the Huge Honkin' 4Runner. "Today was fun - even though the movie was dreadful." she said, giving him a shy smile.

Joe swallowed, suddenly nervous. "Hey, Olivia?"

She looked at him expectantly. "Yea?"

"I was wondering...thinking...um..." he said, his nerves showing. "Are we dating? I mean, can we be dating? I mean, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked, the words tumbling out with his nervousness. Liv smiled softly at him.

"I'd really like that." she said. After another brief kiss, she climbed into her car, and he practically floated back to Kevin.

"This may be the most magical night of my life." Joe said, smiling like a maniac.

Kevin oddly patted his shoulder. "You do realize this means you can't make fun of Nick anymore, right?"

"That's ok." he said, still adopting a dreamy look on his face.

"Ok, let's snap out of it for a moment," Kevin said bluntly. "we've got a job to do, remember?"

"Oh, right." Joe said, shaking his head and blinking rapidly. "Let's roll this chuck wagon."

X-X-X-X-X

(1) - in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter," there is a character called Dolores Umbridge who interrupts everyone, including Dumbledore, with an annoying "hem, hem".

wow, this one was a bit tough to write. hope you all enjoyed it! leave love or ideas of anything you want to see! peace out!


	5. I'm Wet

alright, here's mambo number five! 

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 5: I'm Wet

"Alright, Miley's in place. Nick, you good to go?" Liv whispered. She was crouched down in the middle of the Jonas' hallway, dressed in black leggings, a black underarmour shirt, and plain black flats.

"Olivia, you don't have to whisper." Nick said from where he was standing next to her. "Joe and Kevin are both gone."

"Shh! You're ruining the effect!" she said quietly. "After all, I'm helping you with your revenge - you could at least go along with it!"

"Alright, fine." Nick sighed, now whispering as well.

"I still can't believe they-"

"Stop. I never want to think about that day of my life again."

"Sounds fair enough. Ok, you start in Kevin's room - Joe's is all mine." Liv said, smirking evilly. Nick nodded, adding in a few random (and meaningless) hand signals, just for "the effect" before going into Kevin's room. Liv, after checking both ways, ran across the hall and into Joe's room, setting the plan into action...

An hour or so later, the two schemers heard the front door open and a small group of people enter.

"Thanks again for helping me, you guys - Nick's gonna love his Valentine's gift!" Miley was saying to Joe and Kevin.

"It was no problem, Miley. Really." Kevin said. Joe nodded enthusiastically (he was on good terms with Miley today).

"Hey, guys!" Nick said, coming downstairs. Liv was hidden somewhere - Nick didn't even quite know where. "How was the...whatever you all were doing?"

"It was great!" Miley said, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. "You know, you get your brothers to focus, and they can be a great help."

"Hey, I was focused the whole time." Kevin pointed out.

"Oh, right. Well, Kevin's always a good help, but you get Joe to focus, and he can be a good help too!" Miley corrected. Joe's brow furrowed.

"Was that a compliment?" he asked, confused.

"Relatively speaking, Joe, yes." Kevin said, patting his brother's shoulder. Joe shrugged, moving on to get a snack out of the kitchen.

"Hey Joe, you wanna go get that new CD out of your room? I want to show it to Miley." Nick said innocently.

"You can go get it yourself." Joe said shortly.

"Yea, but you know how cranky you can get when I mess up your 'system,' and I don't want to deal with that today." Nick insisted.

"I do not get 'cranky'!"

"Joe, you can get a little cranky." Kevin pointed out. Joe sighed.

"Fine. I'll go get the flippin' CD." he said, walking up the stairs to his room. Once he was almost out of earshot, Nick slapped his hand to his forehead.

"Wait, Kevin, I think I might have left it in your room." he said.

"Ok, I'll go check then, I guess." Kevin said, looking at him oddly. He followed Joe up the stairs, leaving Miley and Nick alone.

"Oh, you guys ROCK!" Liv whispered excitedly, jumping out from behind the couch and giving them high fives. "Now, we sit and wait..."

Exactly five seconds later, a loud "WHAT?!" and a girlish scream were heard from the upstairs. Joe had made it to his room just as Kevin made it to his. The two boys had walked in to find everything, save their beds and dressers, turned completely upside down. Books, CD's, even empty cups and plates were all upside down. Joe's glow-in-the-dark Elvis night light was even plugged in upside down. He screamed a girlish scream at the same time that Kevin yelled "WHAT?!" very, very loudly. They both sprinted into the hall, meeting each other in the middle.

"Is it all-?" Joe started.

"Everything's-" Kevin tried to say.

"But how did he-?"

"He didn't have time-"

"All by himself-?"

"He had to have help-"

"But Miley-"

"Outside source-"

The both stopped, gasped, and uttered the same word: "Olivia!"

They then turned and ran down the stairs, back to the entrance hallway, where Nick, Miley, and Liv were waiting patiently. Upon seeing them, all three began laughing.

"You!" Joe said, pointing at her.

"My room's upside down!" Kevin said.

"Guess you aren't in Kansas anymore. (1)" Liv said, stifling her giggles.

"MY ROOM'S UPSIDE DOWN!" Kevin yelled, but he and Joe were both close to laughter - after all, they're rooms were upside down, and you can't help but laugh at that.

"She did have an accomplice." Nick confessed, holding up his hand.

"Or two." Miley said, also stepping forward.

"You were both in on this?!" Kevin said.

"And to think I FOCUSED for you!" Joe said, slanting his eyes at Miley.

"Y'all really were good help, though." Miley said meekly. Joe's face brightened.

"Ah, I'm just kidding." he said, waving it off. He then turned on Liv. "You, on the other hand..."

"I'm thinking this means war, Joe." Kevin said.

"I'm going to have to agree, Kevin." Joe replied, looking at his brother.

"Oh, no." Liv said, shaking her finger. "You guys started it by not letting me in on that prank on Nick, which would have been better. You wouldn't have scarred the kid for life by-"

"DON'T SPEAK OF IT!" Nick burst out suddenly. It took a great deal of soothing and mollifying from Miley before he was calm again.

"You turned our rooms upside down!" Kevin said.

"We're even." Liv said, suddenly looking into their eyes intensely.

"Ooooh no," Joe said. "your Jedi mind tricks will not work on us. (2)"

"Blast, I knew I should've stayed and finished my training instead of going after Solo and Leia. (3)" Liv said, snapping her fingers.

"ANYWAY," Kevin interrupted. "I guess we can be even."

"Pinkie swear on it." Liv said, holding her pinkies out to each of them. Joe and Kevin both rolled their eyes as they linked their pinkies with hers. "There, all better."

"Yea. So who's going to help us turn our rooms right side up?" Kevin asked with an expectant look on his face.

"Yea, Miley and I have plans..." Nick said suspiciously.

"Yea, and I think we're already late..." Miley agreed, and they turned and practically ran out of the room. Kevin looked to Joe and Liv.

"Don't look at me," Joe said. "I have my own room to deal with." They both turned to Liv.

"What?" she asked. "You think I'm going to help undo my masterpiece? I don't think so."

Kevin sighed dramatically. "Fine," he said sorrowfully. "I suppose I'll just go up to my room and start by myself..."

"Alright, peace out brother." Joe said.

"See ya later, alligator." Liv added before the pair also ran off, leaving Kevin by himself.

"I need a girlfriend..." he muttered to himself before meandering back upstairs to his room.

Meanwhile, Miley and Nick wandered off (probably back to Miley's house), and Joe and Liv just collapsed in the soft grass of the Jonas' front yard.

"I have to admit," Joe said after a moment. "that was a pretty good prank."

"Well thanks!" Liv said with a smile. "It took me a while to come up with it."

"You do realize that we aren't even though, right?" he said, turning his head to look at her. She looked back.

"We're totally even." she said, laughing.

"We are not! I had to keep a top secret secret, but you, you..." Joe said, waving his hands, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Were vengeful yet creative and beautiful?" Liv offered.

"I suppose that'll cover it." Joe said, nodding in agreement. Liv stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled as if she had a secret. "What?"

She lifted her hand, and moved as if she were going to just lay it on him. However, she tapped his shoulder lightly and rolled away, crying "Tag! You're it!" and running out of arm's reach.

"For shiz?" he said. "It's on now!" He scrambled to his feet and began chasing after Liv, who had sprinted away when he started to move. She took a quick turn around a tree, making Joe slip on the grass as he tried to change directions.

"Run run, as fast as you can!" she said, scampering off in a different direction.

"Girl, when I catch up to you, you're...you're..." Joe was once again at a loss for words. Liv smiled at him from the other side of the yard at the top of the hill, and began twirling around. Joe took this distraction to run as fast as he could towards her. She tried to take off, but was the second victim of the slick grass and fell flat on her stomach. Joe, trying to stop all of the sudden, fell down as well, and began rolling down the hill.

"As...you...wish...(4)" he yelled. Liv, laughing at the reference, threw herself down the hill after him, both of them rolling at incredible speeds until the ground levelled out.

"That's quite a fall." Liv said, trying to catch her breath.

"Indeed." Joe said, lying a few feet from her. "Let's do it again!" he exclaimed, scrambling to his feet again.

"I'll just wait for you here." she said tiredly, still laying on the ground. He looked at her, concerned.

"You ok?" he asked, furrowing his brow. She gave a bright smile.

"Yea, I'm perfectly alright, just getting a bit burnt out from school and volleyball and all...plus, it's hard work conniving and turning two people's rooms upside down." she explained. "But it's all good - we're basically halfway through February, which means we're almost to Spring Break!"

"Speaking of," Joe said, laying back down next to her. She looked at him oddly. "February, not Spring Break." he explained. "Will you be my valentine?"

"Be your valentine?" she asked.

"Yes." Joe said, suddenly a little self conscious. "It's this tradition where people express the fact that they like each other." he said. Liv paused a moment, looking as if she were actually thinking.

"Well...I suppose so." she said slowly as Joe tried to figure out if she was serious or not. She suddenly gave him a warm smile. "Of course I'll be your valentine." she said, giving him a quick kiss. "What will we be doing?"

"Well, I hadn't quite gotten that far yet." Joe said, playing with her hair.

"That's fine, just let me know when and where." she said, closing her eyes and basking in the warm sun. Joe smiled in response, even if she didn't see it, and the two spent the rest of the afternoon lying in the sun.

A couple days later, Joe could be found pacing in the Jonas' house, deep in thought again. Goodness he thought a lot for this girl! It was three days until Valentine's, and he still had absolutely no idea what to do with Olivia. He had asked his mother, but she responded with "Well Joseph, honey, I don't know what girls would like nowadays, especially since you two have only been dating for a few weeks." So Joe was back to his pacing.

"Dude," Kevin said, coming inside from...outside. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know what to do for Olivia for Valentine's." Joe said shortly, still pacing. Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Did you ask Mom?" he asked.

"Yes. No help." Joe retorted.

"Then just call Miley - she'll help you out." Kevin tried again. Joe looked at him as if seeing him for the first time.

"Kevin, you're a genius! Goodness, I'm glad Mom kept you." he said, whipping out his phone. Kevin shook his head and smiled at his brother's antics.

"Just don't hurt yourself." Kevin said, walking towards his room. Joe wasn't listening - the phone was already ringing. He certainly hoped he wasn't interrupting Nick and Miley while they were making out or committing a federal offense or anything.

"Hey Joe." Miley answered, and he could practically hear the question in her voice. He heard Nick mutter something in the background, but it was unintelligible.

"Hey Miley." he said, momentarily forgetting why he was calling.

"...What's up?" she said after a moment in a tone that told Joe he needed to remember - fast.

"Miley, you're a girl!" he said, suddenly excited.

"Um, yea, last time I checked." she said, sounding like she was about to go into "angry Miley" mode.

"No, wait, I mean, you're a girl," Joe tried to smooth things over. "so you know what girls like and stuff. Valentine's Day is in like, three days and I have no idea what to do for Olivia - we've only been together for a few weeks..."

"Just take her to dinner. You can't lose with that." Miley said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Do I still get a gift for her?" he asked, making sure to cover all the bases.

"If you want. Nothing too big - just flowers or something." she said.

"Dinner and flowers? Got it." he said, writing it down on a receipt he found on the counter.

"Yea, that should be good." Miley said, trying to get him off the phone.

"Thanks a million, Miles. I really appreciate it." Joe said sincerely.

"No problem. Bye Joe." she said, hanging up before he could get distracted again. Joe looked at the back of the receipt, wondering why he thought he couldn't remember something as simple as dinner and flowers. But now he was faced with an entirely different problem - where were they going to dinner? And what flowers should he get her? Blast, dating was hard (and HA! it was dating this time!)! Suddenly, Mrs. Jonas walked in holding a couple bags of groceries.

"Mommy!" Joe said, jumping at her.

"What is it this time, Joseph?" she asked, setting the bags down and beginning to put the food away.

"Geez, harsh much." Joe said, eyeing her warily.

"I'm sorry, dear. What do you need?" she asked gently.

"Well, it's just...if I wanted to take a girl on a really romantic dinner, where would I take her? And if I were to buy said girl flowers, what kind would I buy?" he asked.

"Must you always speak like it's a hypothetical situation?" she sighed to herself. "Well, if you want to take Olivia to a nice place, try Teo's, on the beach - that's where your father takes me when he's being romantic. And as for flowers, roses ought to do nicely." she said.

"Thanks, mommy! You're the best!" Joe said, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek and running up to his room to finalize his plans.

A few days later, Joe and Liv could be found in a limo, on their way to the restaurant, dressed to the nine's.

"Seriously, Joe, where are we going?" Liv asked, trying to contain her smile and playing with the single red rose Joe had brought her.

"Secret!" Joe said. "But you'll like it...I think." he said the last part to himself quietly.

"If I call Kevin, will he know?" she tried.

"HA! I didn't tell Kevin!" he said, smiling at her. She pouted.

"Blast, you've foiled my plans again..." she said.

"I can't help it if I'm practically James Bond." Joe said, shaking his head.

"Yes, I suppose I did bring it upon myself..." she said, playing with the knee-length hem of the black skirt of her dress.

"Aw, now don't be like that." Joe said, even though he knew she was faking the sadness. Liv didn't say anything, just pouted more. "Fine, then you leave me no choice..." he said, leaning over and kissing her slowly. When he pulled away, Liv was smiling.

"Smooth." she said shortly.

"The name's Jonas. Joseph Jonas." he said, popping his collar. He then spotted the restaurant coming up. "Oh, look, we're here!" he said excitedly.

Liv turned to look out the window. "Teo's? How on earth did you...I can't believe...wow." she said, shocked that she was going to such a high-end restaurant.

"I've got the hookup." Joe said, giving her a smile as the limo pulled up to the door. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." she answered, still a little shocked. "I so should've worn heels..."

"You're fine." he said, offering his arm. She took it as the maitre d' led them to their table.

"Joe, this is really nice," she said, admiring the place. "Are you sure it's ok?"

"If it wasn't, would I have brought you here?" he asked, smiling. She gave a shy smile in return.

"I suppose not." she agreed with a nod. "So, what do you get here?" she asked, browsing the menu.

"No idea." Joe said, browsing as well. "I've never actually been here."

"I guess we'll have an adventure with it then." Liv said. "Hopefully it's good, I kind of forgot to have lunch."

"How can you of all people forget a meal?" Joe asked.

"I really don't know. I mean, I was cleaning the house, and mom needed help with stuff, then Tyler needed help with homework...and all of the sudden, I only had two hours until I had to meet you."

"It takes you two hours to get ready?" Joe asked incredulously.

"Oh please. Like it didn't take you forever to achieve that perfection." she said, gesturing to his hair.

"Actually, I have Kevin do it. He's quite handy sometimes." Joe said with a cheesy smile.

"Goodness, I may have to borrow him one day then."

"He charges by the hour - great rates too." he said. Liv laughed and was about to say something else when the waitor came to take their orders. They both tried something different and went back to their conversation, only to be shocked when the half-empty plates arrived some time later.

"It's like elf food." Liv said, staring at the food (or lack there of).

"Baby elf food." Joe agreed, also staring at his plate. He suddenly looked up at Liv. "This so isn't us. Want to jet?"

"Yes please." Liv agreed, grabbing her purse to pay. Joe held out his hand to stop her.

"Hey, I'll still pay." he said happily. Liv smiled.

"You sure?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. He laughed.

"We've been through this - would I say it if I wasn't sure?" he said, smiling at her. She gave him a half smile, shaking her head.

"Alright, go for it then." she gave in. After paying, the two practically ran out of the very grown-up restaurant and onto the boardwalk.

"So, what shall we do now?" Joe said, confidently slipping his hand into hers (well, he appeared confident, but he was actually a little hesitant). She quickly laced her fingers with his as they slowly wandered down the boardwalk.

"Well, there's a convenience store up there. You want to have a picnic on the beach?" she suggested.

"That sounds spectacular!" Joe said. They stopped in the store, buying a bunch of junk food before making their way down the beach, setting up shop in the middle of the sandy dunes. A few hundred feet away, a couple in their mid-twenties was sitting on a blanket, romantically feeding each other strawberries and sharing a bottle of champagne. Liv and Joe, however, were throwing cheese puffs at each other, trying to make in their mouths (one may have accidentally gone down Liv's dress, but it was not Joe's fault) and sharing a giant bottle of coke. The older couple soon got tired of their antics, and moved even further down the beach.

"Whoo! All alone now!" Liv said, giving Joe a high five.

"We make a pretty good team." Joe agreed.

"Yea - we should get jerseys. (5)" Liv added. She suddenly got up, dusting the sand off of her.

"Where are you going?" Joe asked.

"Let's go in the ocean." Liv said, pointing to where the waves were crashing ashore.

"But it's...wet." Joe said, laughing. Her eyes sparkled mischeiviously in the moonlight.

"So? Take your shoes off and roll up your pants!" she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"C'mon, Liv..."

"No, you c'mon, Joe." she said, grabbing his hands and pulling him up and toward the sea.

"Ok, hold up." he said, pulling off his socks and shoes and trying to roll up the hems of his nice pants. Liv was good to go - she had slipped her flats off long ago, and her skirt only came down to her knees. She took his hand again, running to the spot where the water met the land and splashing around. Joe laughed at her joy, which seemed to be contagious.

"I love the water!" she said, kicking a splash at him. He retaliated, and soon they once again found themselves in a fight of some sort - this time, splashing. When both of them were quite damp, Joe decided to just overpower her, rushing forward and slinging her over his shoulder. She screamed, but was soon laughing.

"Haha! I've got you now!" Joe said.

"Joe, put me down!"

"Hmm...no."

"Joe! Down!" she said, hitting his back continuously. He laughed with her.

"Alright, alright - WHOA!" When he tried to put her down, they both lost their balance. Even though they desperately tried to regain it, they both fell down flat into the water, getting completely soaked.

Liv was the first to resurface, floundering and sputtering. Joe soon surfaced as well, shaking his head like a dog. They looked at each other, both sopping wet in the moonlit ocean, and began laughing incredibly hard. And there, by the light of the moon, Joe couldn't take it anymore - he swam over to Liv just as the tide was coming in, kissing her purposefully. She responded earnestly, holding onto his waist for stability as his fingers wove into her tangled, sea-soaked hair. They kissed until the tide came back in, the waves crashing into them and nearly knocking them over. Liv smiled brightly, splashing him one more time before wandering back onto the beach. They walked slowly, hand in hand, back to the spot where all their stuff was.

The limo was waiting by the time they made it back up to where the restaurant was, dripping with sea water and carrying shoes and such. Their conversation was idle on the way to take Liv back home, both of them just enjoying each other's company. It wasn't until they were dripping on her porch that they really spoke.

"This," Liv said quietly, "has been the best Valentine's date I have ever been on."

"I'm glad." Joe said equally as quietly. "Cause this has been my best Valentine's date too."

She smiled shyly again, looking down at the keys in her hands, which she was playing with.

"Oh, you've got-" Joe said, reaching toward her hair.

"What is it?" she asked, trying to see the area just next to her neck. Joe moved closer, gently pulling out a piece of seaweed that was tangled in her hair. She smiled softly and was about to make a statement about being a mermaid when Joe leaned in and kissed her softly. Liv responded slightly - and then the lights inside the house came on and the door open abruptly. Linda stood there, clad in her dressing gown with a suspecting smile on her face.

"Oh, uh, hi mom." Liv said nervously.

"Hi Mrs. Haddocks." Joe said, looking at the ground.

"Hello Joe. Olivia, I think it's time to say goodnight." Linda said, still smiling knowingly.

"'Night, Joe." Liv said, giving him a smile.

"'Night, Liv." Joe responded. "Call you later?"

"Yea, go for it." she said quietly, waving to him and slipping inside the house. Joe smiled brightly, allowed himself a short happy dance, and went back to the limo, preparing to bother Kevin and Nick for the rest of the night.

X-X-X-X-X

(1) - Everything must have been topsy-turvy when Dorothy landed in Oz, hence the "Wizard of Oz" reference.  
(2) - In the saga "Star Wars," Jedi knights were able to control people's thoughts using only their minds and a fancy hand wave. (3) - In "Star Wars," Luke Skywalker leaves his training with Yoda unfinished in order to save Han Solo and Princess Leia from a painful fate.  
(4) - From the amazing "Princess Bride." Buttercup pushes Westley down a hill, and he reveals his identity by uttering those three words - "As you wish"  
(5) - Quote from the song "Must Have Done Something Right" by Relient K. It goes, "We should get jerseys, cause we make a good team. But yours would look better than mine, because you're out of my league."

thanks for all the love, everyone! as always, tell me what you think, or if there's anything you'd like to see! peace out!

XM


	6. I Can't Believe I'm Related To You

thanks for all that love y'all! you don't know how happy i was to check my email during history and see what y'all left for me! 

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 6: I Can't Believe I'm Related to You

Valentine's Day was the last day for a long time that Joe and Liv were able to hang out. Joe felt bad for Liv - her mom's work was really overflowing, and Tyler needed her almost every night, either to read out loud to (the teacher assigned a certain amount of time a week that had to be spent reading aloud to a family member), or to learn his addition and subtraction. And yet, despite all this, she had to go to volleyball all the time, as well as begin studying for her AP's - not to mention the mounting homework assigned for the classes. Every time they talked to each other, she seemed more strained, more stressed, and stretched thinner. But she would always make a point to ask about him - how Nick and Kevin were doing, how the new record was coming, if Miley had gotten so angry that she had punched him across the face yet. Joe did his best not to worry about her, but she always seemed to be overwhelmed.

"Hello?" Linda had answered the phone one day.

"Hi, is Olivia there?" he had asked. She sighed.

"She is, Joe, but she's really got a lot going right now, honey. I'll tell her you called her, though." she said. Joe's heart sank.

"Ok, thanks Ms. Haddocks." Joe said softly. They exchanged goodbyes and hung up. He missed Liv, but he knew how stressed she had to be - after all, how run down were the Jonas Brothers at the end of a tour? So he left her alone and waited for her to make it to Spring Break, which she assured him would mean the end of her busy-ness, for a week at least. Needless to say, he was rather excited when his caller ID showed her calling one Friday evening.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey!" she said, but her voice was soft, less energetic than usual. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Joe said hurridly. "What about you? You ok?"

She laughed softly. "Yea, finally done. Oh, sorry about the whispering, I lost my voice yesterday." she said.

"It's all good." Joe said, finding himself talking in the same hushed tones. "So what's up?"

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out tonight - watch a movie at mine or something." she said.

"Are you sure? You sound pretty tired." Joe said hesitantly.

"Yea, I want to sleep - but I want to see you more. How 'bout it?" she asked. Joe smiled.

"Sure. When do you want me over?"

"Well it's what, 7:30 now?" she asked rhetorically. "I'd say just come when you can."

"Alright cool, be over in a jiffy." Joe said, excited.

"Excellent! See you in a bit." she replied. They exchanged goodbyes, and Joe set to work.

"Keviiiiiiiiiinnnn," he whined. "Please please please please please please-"

"Dude, you only had to ask once." Kevin interrupted.

"Really?" Joe asked, a little surprised.

"What can I say, I'm feeling generous today." Kevin replied. "Now hurry up before the feeling fades."

"But, I have to put in my contacts, and straiten my hair, and change out of this tshirt, and-"

"You really think she'll care?" Kevin interrupted again. "Come on, I need to pick Nick up when I drop you off."

"He was with the wife this whole time? I was wondering where that little stud muffin had gone..." Joe said, suddenly looking as if he was deep in thought again. Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Let's go!" he said, pushing Joe in the general direction of the garage. They grabbed their jackets, heading out to the car. Five minutes later, Joe was walking up the driveway as Kevin coasted to the next house over to try and pry Nick away from Miley. He told Joe to just call when he was ready to come home.

Joe walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, waiting patiently (or as patiently as Joe ever waits) for anyone to come to the door. Moments later, the door opened, revealing Liv in yet another long sleeved tshirt and plaid boxers.

"Hey! Glasses buddy!" she greeted, her voice cracking in the middle of the statement. Black frames adorned her face as well.

"How are you?" Joe asked, smiling brightly and wrapping his arms around her. She returned the embrace, leaning into him and laying her head against his.

"Tired." she said softly. "But I'm really glad you're here."

Joe enjoyed the tender moment - he wondered how he could miss someone so much when he'd only known her for a few months. The moment, however, was soon interrupted.

"OLIVIA! ELVIS ATE MY SAMMICH!" came the distinct screaming of a hungry five year old. Liv sighed, pulling away from Joe.

"Probably should go take care of that." she said with a half smile.

"I'll help you!" Joe replied enthusiastically, following her into the kitchen and dining area. There was Tyler, still sitting at the table; a guilty-looking Elvis was there with him.

"Hi, Joe!" Tyler said. A Spiderman coloring was open in front of him, and crayons were scattered over the table. Liv moved into the kitchen, getting things out to make him another sandwich.

"Hey little buddy. What's going on?" Joe asked, kind of happy that Tyler seemed to like him at least a little bit.

"Elvis ate my sammich." he huffed. "I was coloring, and the black crayon was on the other side of the table, so I had to push my plate over so that I wouldn't get sammich on me, and he gobbled it right up!"

"Well goodness!" Joe said, quite unsure how to respond to the story.

"Yea, but it's okay, cause Olivia's gonna make me another one." he explained, carefully coloring Mary Jane's (1) hair purple.

"You want anything while I'm in here?" Liv called from the kitchen.

"Nah, I'm good to go." Joe said, not wanting her to have to do any more.

"Joe, you wanna color with me?" Tyler asked innocently, not even looking up from the book. Joe stopped and thought for a second, not exactly sure how to turn down a five year old.

"Joe's not gonna color today, sweetie." Liv said, bringing him the second sandwich. "He came to see me."

"Maybe another time." Joe added, not wanting to hurt Tyler's feelings. Tyler, however, seemed unfazed by the rejection.

"Ok!" he said, biting into his meal. Elvis licked his lips and stared at the sandwich as it went from plate, to mouth, and back to plate.

"Ok bud, I'm going to put Elvis out for the night. When you're done, brush your teeth and come get me to tuck you in." she said, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge for herself and tossing one to Joe. She quickly let the dog out the kitchen door before beckoning Joe to follow her upstairs.

"Sorry about all that." she said, leading him into a separate room filled with CD's, vinyl records, stacks upon stacks of DVD's, and a TV. "Mom had to go to Phoenix for a business trip all of the sudden yesterday and won't be back until late tonight, so I'm taking care of the little one."

"It's all good," Joe said, running his fingers over the dozens of album titles. "Where did all these vinyls come from?"

"Those? They're my dad's old records from the sixties and seventies." she explained. "He loved that music, and even though my mom hates it, she hasn't had the heart to sell them or throw them out or anything."

"There's some really old stuff in here." he said, pulling out a copy of "Please Please Me" by the Beatles (2).

Liv laughed. "He was kind of stuck in the past - but it was almost cool. I grew up listening to all those with him in the car on the way to games and tournaments and such." she explained, going and opening up the DVD organizer. "What should we watch?"

"Oh gosh, like I could choose?" Joe asked incredulously. "You've got roughly five billion of them."

"Well it shouldn't be that difficult." Liv said, her voice cracking again. "Just go for the first thing you find that you know is good."

"What if it's the first movie of the pile?" he asked.

"Then we can watch that one." Liv replied, smiling at him. "But are you sure you want to watch 'A Walk to Remember'?"

"Honestly, don't even know what that one is." Joe said, looking all over the cover of the DVD.

"Well, what's your favorite movie then?" she asked.

Joe thought for a moment. "Finding Neverland. Or Transformers." he answered.

"We've got both," Liv said, finding the movies. "So pick."

"You pick." he said, smiling at her. She rolled her eyes, laughing at him.

"I don't care, as long as I'm watching it with you." she said, looking pointedly at him. Before Joe could respond, a miniature body appeared in the doorway.

"Olivia, I'm ready for bed now." Tyler said, interrupting the playful banter.

"Alright, kiddo. Let's get you tucked in." she said to him. "I'll be right back." she added to Joe.

"Can Joe tuck me in too?" Tyler asked, looking up at his older sister. Liv looked to Joe, ready to say no in a politically correct way again.

"Sure!" Joe said, walking over to them. "Lead the way."

Tyler took of running down the hall, leaving nothing behind him save his dust and the vision of Spiderman pajamas. When Liv and Joe made it to his room, he had burrowed himself in the covers, trying to hide.

"Wow, I wonder where Tyler is!" Joe said in a loud voice.

"Yea, he isn't here, that's for sure!" Liv said, going along with it, her lost voice sounding funny as she tried to speak loudly.

"I guess I'll just have to sit here on this bed until he comes out." he continued, moving to the bed. Tyler popped out from underneath the covers.

"Here I am!" he yelled.

"Oh my goodness!" Joe said, clutching his heart.

"He was right there this whole time!" Liv added; Tyler was giggling. "Alright, come on kid, time to go to sleep." she said as the little boy flipped around and got under his covers. Joe tucked the covers in all around him, securing him in a blanket tortilla in the same way he did with Frankie when no one was looking.

"Ah, I can't move!" Tyler complained, squirming around.

"That's the point." Joe said, admiring his work. He should open a burrito shop!

"Goodnight, brother." Liv said, laughing and giving Tyler a kiss on the forehead.

"Goodnight, sister." Tyler said, the sleepiness starting to settle in. "'Night, Joe."

"'Night, little buddy." Joe said as the little boy curled into his bed to go to sleep. Liv silently lead him out of the room and back to the movie room.

"Do you take care of him a lot?" Joe asked while Liv turned on the TV and DVD player.

"Yea, kind of. But I mean, my mom has to work a lot - she's putting one kid through college and is about to put another one in, and that's really tough when she's by herself." Liv explained, ending the statement with a huge yawn, which made Joe yawn as well.

"Stop making me yawn." Joe said, lightly flicking her arm. Liv waved it off, having no comeback. He collapsed on the couch in front of the TV, suddenly very relaxed. She put Finding Neverland in before dropping down next to him.

"Hm, I've missed you." She murmured as he wrapped one arm around her. "I don't have to be all grown up around you." she continued, laughing softly.

"I missed you too. I think Kevin did too - he said the other day that I was going to drive him insane one of these days." Joe replied, his voice also soft. They were silent for a moment as the menu screen appeared, soft music playing.

"Will you sing for me?" Liv asked randomly.

"Sing for you?" Joe asked. "Right now?"

"Yes." she said, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.

"Well, what do you want me to sing?" he asked. Goodness he was a sucker for this girl.

"Whatever you want." she replied, muting the TV and nestling into his arm. Joe thought for a moment.

"They come and go, but they don't know that you are my beautiful..." he sang softly. "I try to come closer with you, but they all say we won't make it through. But I'll be there forever, you will see that it's better. All our hopes and our dreams will come true. I will not disappoint you, I will be right there for you till the end, the end of time...please be mine. (3)" he sang. He went a few more lines before he was good to go.

"That's a good song." Liv said in a tone where Joe could tell she was smiling. "Who sings it?"

"This really awesome band called the Jonas Brothers." Joe answered cheekily. Liv smirked.

"They sound amazing." she said, planting a kiss on his cheek in thanks before settling back on his shoulder. And then resettling. And then shifting again, trying to get comfortable.

"Do you want to lay down here?" Joe asked, patting his thigh. Liv looked at him with one eyebrow perked. "I've got no ulterior motives." he laughed, holding up his hands as an expression of innocence.

"You sure?" she asked skeptically. He laughed again, reaching past her to grab a pillow from the other end of the couch.

"Here, we'll even put down a pillow for you." he said, placing the pillow on his lap. She gave a half-smile, kissed his cheek again, and laid down. He started the movie, playing with her soft, blonde hair as the movie score began.

"Hmm, that feels nice." she hummed in approval as the opening credits rolled across the screen. Liv fell asleep ten minutes into the movie, but Joe didn't notice. Fifteen minutes later, he was out as well. When Linda wandered in at about 2:30 that morning, she didn't notice the extra body in the room, figuring Olivia had just fallen asleep in front of the television again. At 7:45, it all fell apart as Joe's cell phone vibrated in the pocket farthest from Liv's head. Joe glanced around his surroundings, realizing that he was still at Liv's. Uh oh. And the last person he wanted to talk to at this (awkward) moment in time was calling - mama Jonas.

"Joseph Jonas!" she screamed into his ear. "Where on earth are you?!"

"I'm still at Olivia's, mom." Joe whispered.

"Why are you whispering?!" she demanded.

"Cause I don't want to wake Liv up." he whispered. It must have been the wrong answer, because Mrs. Jonas swore loudly.

"Joseph are you having sex with her?!" she yelled shrilly. Joe didn't get the chance to answer as she continued. "Joseph I thought we raised you better than that!"

"Mom-" he tried interrupting.

"We thought you would know to value your body, Joseph!"

"Mom-" he tried again, but to no avail.

"Now I don't even know what to think-"

"MOM!" he finally caught her attention. "I'm not having sex with Olivia."

"You're not?" she asked meekly.

"No." Joe said definitely. "We just both fell asleep watching a movie is all."

"Oh." Mrs. Jonas said. "Well dear, I'm sorry I assumed the worst. Do you know how hard it is to be a mother to four boys?!"

"Mom?"

"Yes dear?"

"Not really the time to go back into that."

"Oh. Well, Kevin is walking out the door right now to come and get you." she said.

"Ok, mom." Joe responded as Liv started to stir.

"And Joseph?"

"Yes, mommy?"

"Don't think that you won't be receiving some punishment, even if you aren't having sex."

"I know, mommy."

"Well as long as we're clear on that. See you at home in a bit, dear." she said. They exchanged goodbyes, and Joe hung up just as Liv woke up.

"What time is it?" she asked throatily, her voice even more lost that the day before.

"7:45." Joe answered. She groaned.

"It's too early, and I sound like a man..." she then realized that Joe was still in her house, and it was the next morning. "Oh gosh, did I fall asleep on you? You should've woken me up to go home-" she started freaking out.

"Chillax, mama frito." Joe said. "My mom isn't too angry, and I fell asleep too. So it's all good."

She sat up, running a hand through her messy blonde hair (which, Joe had to admit, was a little sexy) and stretching. "Well then," she said. "I'm hungry. Do you want some breakfast before you go?"

A distinct sound of a car horn honking was heard before Joe could respond. He grimaced. "Actually, that's my ride." he said apologetically.

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll walk you out then." she said, getting up from the couch and stretching again. Joe tried to follow her lead, but collapsed on the ground suddenly.

"Ah! Dead leg!" he cried, clutching the leg Olivia had been resting her head on. She busted out laughing, leaning on the arm of the couch for support. After a couple minutes though, she was reduced to a fit of coughing - which Joe laughed at. Their fun was soon interrupted as Kevin honked again.

"Alright, time to go." Liv said, helping Joe to his feet. She led him to the door, earning a pointed look from her mother and an enthusiastic wave from Tyler, who was once again elbow deep in crayons. After a chaste kiss and a wave to Kevin, the two were left until another day. And another adventure.

This "other adventure" did not take long to appear. A few days after their little slumber party, Liv called Joe, sounding distressed.

"I apologize in advance for this." she said, making Joe a little nervous.

"What's up?" he asked slowly.

"Well, my older brother and his best friend Molly are in town, and he kind of...wants to meet you." she said. He breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Wait, why would you apologize for that?" he asked skeptically. She paused.

"Well...ok, he kind of demanded to meet you." she said.

"Um...should I be afraid?" he asked. Liv was quiet for a moment, and he could tell that she was biting her lip in thought.

"Well, Molly usually keeps him in check, so I think you'll be ok." she said, not sounding completely sure.

"Alright, I'll be over in a little bit. Kevin's out, so I've gotta walk."

"That's ok, maybe in that time I can tie him up or something." she said. Joe laughed, and they said goodbye. Joe ran up to the bathroom, practically throwing his contacts and grabbing the straitener. Yes, it was still warm from Kevin! Excellent!

A half an hour later, Joe found himself standing at the Haddocks' front door, a little afraid of what was on the other side. He told himself to man up, though, and pressed the doorbell. There was a sound of scuffling on the other side of the door, and a cry of "Chris! Quit it!" before the door was opened and Joe was met with...a chest. Joe moved his head upwards, realizing that there was a neck and a head attached to the chest, as well as huge arms that looked like they could twist him into a pretzel without breaking a sweat. Chris was by far the most massive person Joe had ever seen besides Big Rob; he gulped, audibly.

"You must be Joe." Chris said, his dark eyes moving all over Joe. Joe spotted Liv trying to get around to see him.

"Chris, move!" she said exasperatedly, seeing as Chris was taking up practically the whole doorway. "Molly! Chris won't let him in!"

"Chris, let him in!" came a feminine voice from where Joe guessed was the kitchen. "Chris" rolled his eyes and stepped aside, allowing Joe to squeeze into the house and stand next to Liv, eyeing the massive man standing in front of him. He was probably around 6'2", with dark hair and eyes, tan skin, and more muscles than a beach. Joe gulped again as he continued to stare, sizing him up.

"Ok, he's in the house. Should we maybe move to the kitchen?" Liv suggested. Chris gave a single, slow nod and allowed Joe and Liv to go before him. In the kitchen, Joe met Molly - a petite woman with strait, auburn hair and friendly brown eyes. Needless to say, Joe was much more inclined to talk to her than the huge chunk of man that was Olivia's older brother. Liv took his hand in hers encouragingly.

"He's normally not like this, I promise." she whispered as they sat down. "He's just a little...protective."

"I sensed a bit of a protective feel, yes." Joe whispered back, a little alarmed as she rested their joined hands on the table.

"Alright," she said to Chris, who was staring from the other side of the table. "can you get whatever you're going to do over with and act like a normal person again? You're stressing me out on my vacation."

"I've just got a few questions, that's all." he said, his eyes never leaving Joe, who stared back (although not near as confidently).

"Go for it." Joe said, sounding a lot calmer than he really felt. Who knew meeting a family member could be so nerve racking?

"Where did you meet my sister?" he asked. Joe sighed inwardly; easy questions first.

"Starbuck's." he said. Whoo! One for one!

Chris' eyes narrowed. "Were you trying to pick her up?"

"He means with a pick up line." Molly clarified after seeing Joe's confused face.

"Oh! No." he said. Woop! Two for two! This wouldn't be so bad.

"Ok, I'm going to skip to the hardest question." he said. "Have you slept with my sister?"

The world seem to stop turning for a moment. Molly clutched the bridge of her nose with her fingers, closing her eyes, and Liv's mouth dropped open.

"Literally or figuratively?" Joe asked. Evidentally, this did not help the situation much. Chris looked like he was about to be angry, but his face changed into a smile, which was a lot less threatening.

"I like you. You're funny." he decided. Liv's mouth was still open in shock.

"What the crap, Chris?" she finally said.

"What? Brother's gotta ask." he explained himself.

"Did you ever think of it from my point of view?" she asked incredulously, holding up her left hand. A purity ring much like Joe's reflected with the kitchen light. "True love freaking waits you retard." she finished. Joe could see a hint of a smile returning.

"Sorry, sis, but I've gotta make sure of these things." he said, smiling. Molly and Liv both rolled their eyes.

"I can't believe I'm related to you." Liv muttered, laughing.

While the attention was off of him, Joe breathed a sigh of relief. Cool, he got approval - relatively speaking - from the older brother. The rest of the afternoon was lighthearted, less threats and more laughter. Joe saw a different side of the Family Liv - the less responsible, more sisterly side. He also impressed Chris with his guitar skills and his sweet talent at wiffle ball. So, all in all, it was a good day.

X-X-X-X-X

(1) - Mary Jane is Peter Parker (Spiderman)'s girlfriend-esque person.  
(2) - According to Wikipedia, "Please Please Me" was the first Beatles album released in the UK. I don't know enough Beatles history to know if this is actually true.  
(3) - This is the Jonas Brothers song "Please Be Mine."

ah, sorry that this chapter is shorter than the other ones, but i'm kind of running low on substance. as always, please leave love, and if you have any ideas of anything you even might want to see, send them in and i'll see what i can do! peace out!

XM


	7. Hold Up

thank you for the love, y'all! you rock! 

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 7: Hold up

Joe was not a morning person. In fact, Joe wasn't much of a night owl either. But there was one person whom he wouldn't mind talking to at any time of day - Olivia. However, that doesn't necessarily mean he wanted her to make a habit of calling at 3 in the morning.

"Hello?" he asked groggily, fingers still tingling from grabbing his vibrating phone. He was silent for a moment, not receiving a response. "Liv?"

"Hey, are you ok?" she asked suddenly, sounding wide awake and a little nervous.

"Well, I'm a little sleepy, but other than that, fine." he said, rubbing his eyes absent mindedly. "Why?"

"Oh, um..." she stuttered, suddenly sheepish.

"C'mon, you can tell me..." Joe meant to say it with a teasing tone, but it came out more gentle than anything, considering the fact that he was still half asleep.

"I just...well, I had a nightmare." she sighed. "And I just couldn't go back to sleep until I was positive you were ok. I know it's weird, but..."

"Hey, it's totally cool." Joe said, his heart doing a strange mix of the cha-cha slide and the macarena. "You good to go now?"

"Yea," she said, giving a soft laugh. "thanks. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Technically, later today." he pointed out. Oh, he's even got it going on at 3 in the morning!

Liv laughed again. "I suppose so. Peace out, Joe." she said softly.

"Ok, bye Liv." he replied, setting his phone on the nightstand. However, try as he might, he couldn't seem to be able to fall back asleep. He tossed and turned, counted sheep and mooses (or was it meese?), and did those odd deep breathing exercises they learned at Tai Chi. Nothing worked. He then decided that he needed a snack - food always helped him feel sleepy! Ok, well, it sometimes did...anyway, he then wandered out of his room, meandering down the hallway. But when he was around the corner from the kitchen, he heard rustling. It was past three in the morning, so everyone would be asleep - gasp! Someone had broken into the house and was in the kitchen! There was more rustling, and Joe vowed to himself that if the thief even touched his banana nut muffins...there was going to be trouble.

He heard the intruder shuffling towards the door. The moment was now - there was no time for Joe to get his dad, or even Nick or Kevin. Luckily he'd been working out lately - this wouldn't be a problem. He jumped the intruder, shoving him into the wall with a grunt. He thought he had him pinned, but then the the intruder started fighting back! It ended up being a full out brawl on the kitchen floor, and it didn't help that a closed bottle of soda rolling around on the floor kept painfully getting in Joe's way. Joe soon stopped the scuffle when a slice of cold pizza slapped him across the face; he rushed over to the wall and flicked on the lights, shocked at who it was.

"Kevin?" he asked.

"Joe?" Kevin answered. Suddenly, Mrs. Jonas padded into the kitchen, her eyes half closed.

"Boys?" she said.

"Mom?" they asked in unison. She shook her head tiredly.

"I'm going back to bed." she groaned, walking off again. Joe and Kevin faced each other again.

"What are you doing up?" Kevin asked.

"What are _you_ doing up?" Joe retorted.

"I asked you first!" Kevin said.

"Whatever, mine had more emotion in it!" Joe responded.

"That's true." Kevin submitted. "I just couldn't sleep. I mean, I'm usually up late, but not this late. Your turn."

"Olivia called me cause she had a nightmare and needed to see if I was ok." Joe said. He noticed it sounded a tad ridiculous when he said it outloud, but he still thought it was kind of cool.

"For shiz? Did you die or something?"

"No idea, she didn't actually tell me." Joe said after thinking for a moment.

"Wait, so she called you and woke you up at three in the morning, made sure you were ok, and went back to sleep without even telling you what happened in her dream that made her so worried?" Kevin summed up, even though the summary ended up being longer than the explanation.

"Yep." Joe said, shrugging. "So, why can't you sleep?"

Kevin sighed. "I'm not quite sure."

"You can't lie to me, bro. I've got a built in seismograph." Joe said, tapping the side of his head.

"A seismograph doesn't...nevermind." Kevin shook his head, jumping up to sit on the island. Joe jumped up next to him.

"C'mon, Kev, what's up?" Joe asked, a serious look on his face as he faced his brother. Kevin sighed again.

"You remember Jessica Keaton?" he asked.

"That girl you dated a couple years ago? Oh yea, she was cool." Joe said, furrowing his brows. "Whatever happened to her?"

"She said she didn't want to put us through the strain of living separate lives while being together, so she suggested we kind of...put it off."

"'Put it off'?" Joe asked, puzzled.

"Yea." Kevin shrugged. "Like, take a break for a while. Anyway, so we've kind of semi-kept in touch over the past couple years, but she called me today and said that she was in SoCal and wanted to get together - kind of catch up, I guess."

"Well," Joe said, pausing to think for a moment. "Do you want to see her again?"

"See, that's what I don't know." Kevin said, sounding frustrated. "Part of me would do almost anything just to be able to see her in person again, but the other part of me doesn't want to get my hopes up, you know?"

Joe thought for another moment. "Well, dude, I don't quite know what to tell you. I want to say go, just to see what's going on. I mean, you're meeting as friends, yea?"

"Yea, as far as I know." Kevin said, nodding.

"Ok, so go and just be her friend. Talk to her. See what's the delio, yo." Joe said. Kevin rolled his eyes, smiling.

"Alright." he said. "When did you get so good with this stuff?"

"Shoot girl, I've always been good at this. I know everything about anything ever, because I'm Joseph Jonas! (1)" Joe said. "Anyway, while we're both awake, you up for a Madden tournament?"

"Not now, dude. I haven't had the advantage of a few hours of sleep like some people." Kevin said. "Thanks though, bro."

"No problem, brotha. Peace out." Joe said as Kevin wandered out after grabbing his discarded soda. He then sat on the island alone, trying to remember why he came downstairs in the first place.

The next day, Liv decided that the two of them should go to the park and frolick in the fresh spring sunshine. And by frolick, she meant run around for a few minutes before cuddling underneath a nearby oak tree, watching Elvis wander around aimlessly, sniffing everything in reach.

"Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you about something." she said suddenly, sitting up from leaning against his shoulder, his arm dropping casually behind her. Joe's heart started beating a little faster - did anything good come from words like that?

"Um...ok. What?" he asked, stuttering slightly. She took a deep breath.

"Will you go to prom with me?" she said, an endearing half-smile on her face.

"...Huh?" Joe asked, blinking rapidly. Whew, he was safe for another day, it seemed.

"You. Prom. With me." she said again, raising her eyebrows. "What did you think?"

"Oh, um...nothing." Joe said, shaking his head. "Well, I would absolutely love to go to prom with you - but isn't the guy supposed to ask the girl?"

"Well, yea, but you didn't know about my prom, and it's coming up in a couple weeks, so I thought I'd just go ahead and ask." she explained.

"That just isn't acceptable!" he said gallantly. "We will go together, yes. But I am going to ask you, and it's going to be in a completely extravagant and slightly embarrassing way."

"For the love, what are you going to do?" she asked, eyeing him warily.

"That, my dear, is a secret." he responded, holding his finger up to his lips in the "shh" signal.

"You don't know yet, do you?" it was more of a statement than a question.

"No, I don't, but rest assured that it'll be great." he covered. She smiled, returning to her previous position as the dog continued to ramble all over the park.

It was true that Joe had no idea how he was going to ask Liv, but he was certain that it was going to be amazing. He didn't ask for advice from anyone - for once, he wanted to do something all by himself. And so he sat in his room until a plan was formed. And the best part? Liv would be caught completely off guard!

So, on that Friday, which was exactly two weeks and one day away from prom, the plan was set into action. There was a pep rally for the seniors that had played Varsity sports, so Joe made a deal with the head cheerleader. He waited outside the gym doors where the pep rally was taking place, making sure to stay out of sight as he watched the various seniors talking with the audience and playing a game designed by the cheerleaders. Finally, his moment came.

"Ok, before we whip out the school song," Latisha, the head cheerleader, began. "there's one last thing that needs to be done. Could Olivia Haddocks please make her way over here?"

Olivia looked at her friends, wondering what was going on. She got up from the floor where all the seniors were and walked over to where Latisha was standing in front of the audience. Even though she didn't speak into the microphone, the audience could tell that she had asked what was going on.

"Well, Liv," Latisha said, placing an arm around her shoulders and effectively hid Joe from view as he snuck in behind them. The audience immediately began whispering, wondering what the rock star was doing at their pep rally. "there seems to be a certain someone that wants to ask you something." she finished mysteriously, moving out of the way and exposing Joe. Her hands flew to her cheeks as her face broke into a large grin, a blush edging its way in.

"Olivia," he said, taking the microphone and her hand and going down on one knee, whipping out a rose. She laughed at his overdramatics, and he struggled holding in his laughter as well. "will you go to prom with me?"

The crowd laughed and awwed as Liv smiled and nodded, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him soundly. Applause followed as Latisha ended the pep rally with the school song, and the people let out for the day. Joe walked out to the student parking lot with Liv, her hand intertwined with his.

"I can't believe you just did that." she said, still smiling, as they got into her car.

"I told you, extravagant and slightly embarrassing." Joe replied. "And you're also kind of a superstar now!"

Liv laughed. "Well, I'm more of a superstar by association. You have no idea how many freshman and sophomore girls asked me if I could hook them up with a live performance from the Jonas Brothers for their sweet sixteens."

"And you said...?"

"I said I'd see what I could do. But I'm pretty sure I'll have to make a few dozen excuses in the next month before I graduate." she said, rolling her eyes. Joe laughed, deciding that this was definitely a good idea.

The next day, Joe slept in and spent the day having a Halo tournament with his brothers. Liv, however, was involved in another predicament altogether.

"Is there not a single dress in all of SoCal?!" she cried, collapsing in a chair outside a cafe.

"Don't worry, Liv." Miley said, carefully placing her bags in a place where they couldn't be stolen. "We'll find that dress for you!"

"Thanks for coming with me, Miley. I know you probably had something you wanted to do with Nick." Liv said, giving her friend and neighbor a smile.

"It was no big, really." Miley said, waving a hand.

"What I don't get, though, is why our only item to find was my prom dress, and yet you have roughly a hundred bags worth of stuff that you bought!"

Miley shrugged. "I can't help it if every store we went into had extremely cute stuff." she said, raising her hands in innocence. Liv rolled her eyes, and the girls spent the rest of the afternoon running around what seemed all of California before finding exactly what they were looking for.

"Girl, Joe ain't gonna know what hit 'em." Miley said, eyeing Liv in the dress.

"You think so?" she asked, suddenly self conscious.

"Of course! You're hot like Uncle Earl's fire-inducing buffalo chicken wings." she replied, excited that they had finally found what she was looking for - now it was up to Joe to stay up with the standard.

Exactly two weeks later, Joe was on his way to Liv's in a limo, playing with the wrapper around the corsage he had gotten for her. She had laughed and insisted they go all out - after all, she reasoned, it was her senior prom. He arrived after a few minutes, Linda letting him in, as Liv was still getting ready.

"Oh, hold on, I need to go find the camera." she said, running off and leaving Joe alone with Tyler, who turned and looked at him seriously.

"I expect you to respect Olivia tonight." he said with as much eloquence as a 5-year-old can muster.

"Huh?" Joe said, surprised.

"You are to have her home at a reasonable time, and if even a hair on her head is out of place..." Tyler continued.

"Dude, where are you getting this from?" Joe asked, laughing.

"TV." Tyler said, shrugging and stuffing his small hands into his pockets.

"Do you even know half of what you said?"

"Not really."

"Well, I promise to be respectful anyway." Joe said, giving the boy a high five as Linda came back in.

"Ok, I'm ready." she said, a little breathless. "OLIVIA! HONEY, LET'S GO!" she called up the stairs.

"Yea, yea, I'm coming." Liv said, quickly coming down the stairs. Miley was right - Joe was completely dumbstruck. The blue, satin-y material of the halter, knee-length dress seemed to make her positively glow, her blue eyes sparkling. Her normally strait hair tumbled down her back in loopy, blonde curls that bounced with her movement. Joe suddenly knew why Nick had been in such a stupor when they had first met Miley that day at the studio.

"Wow." Joe breathed. "You look...wow."

"You like it?" she asked, biting her lip.

"You look beatiful." he said, wrapping his arms around her.

"Thanks, you're looking pretty sharp yourself." she replied, fingering his tie.

"Ok, umm..." Linda interrupted awkwardly. "Time for pictures!"

"Mom, no...for real?" Liv asked.

"Yes, Olivia, now come on."

"Mom, seriously."

"Just a couple, ok? I'll limit myself." Linda said, rolling her eyes. They endured a few photos before Linda finally allowed Olivia to get out the door.

"Sorry about that." Liv said as the limo took off towards the hotel where the dance was taking place. "My mom can get a little sentimental sometimes."

"It's all good - my mom is the exact same way." Joe said. "Now, there was something I wanted to do back at your house, but wasn't sure if it would be appropriate." he said.

"Really?" Liv asked suspiciously. "And what was that?"

Joe mearly smiled, reaching over and kissing her softly. Liv responded, placing a hand on his chest as he deepened the kiss.

"Yea, Mom probably wouldn't have approved of this." she said quietly before kissing him again. Suddenly, his phone rang - it was Kevin.

"You know it wouldn't even be a thought if it wasn't Kevin." Joe said, grabbing her hand and answering the phone. "Dude, this better be super important."

"I need your help again." Kevin said in a rushed voice.

"Right now? Like, right now, right now?" Joe asked.

"What's wrong?" Liv asked, concerned.

"Not sure yet, hold up - what is it, man?"

"Well, I just got home from dinner with Jess, and at the end, she said she'd really like to hang out again. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?"

"You're for shiz calling me about this now? I don't really wish to give you dating advice while I'm on a date, bro."

"'Dating advice'? Give me the phone." Liv said, holding her free hand out. "C'mon, let me talk to him - I _am_ a girl."

Joe submitted, handed the phone over to her. Kevin filled her in on the situation.

"So what should I do?" he finished pitifully.

Liv thought for a moment. "When she was walking away, did she just walk away, or pause and look as if she wanted to say something, but decided against it and left anyway?"

"Uh...I think there was a pause. What does that mean?" he asked, getting flustered at the complex infrastructure known as the female mind (2).

"Dude, go for it, she totally wants you." Liv said shortly.

"For rizzle?"

"For shizzle, K-vizzle."

"How sure are you? Cause I really don't need to embarrass myself with this girl...I mean, I really liked her a lot back in the day...I still do."

"I'm roughly 95.89247 sure. But that's just an estimate." Liv said. "Are you good now?"

"Yes."

"Ok, bye then Kevin." Liv said, holding the phone up to Joe's face so he could tell his brother goodbye before hanging up.

"So, where were we..." Joe said slyly, putting his phone away and kissing her again.

The room was already pounding with music and moving bodies when they arrived. They took more obligatory pictures, just for kicks, before jumping out into the great mass of people. Joe liked the idea of this - many people packed onto one dance floor - because that meant that Liv was dancing in a quite close proximity. They both seemed to take full advantage of this, enjoying themselves as the pounding baseline vibrated through the room. Joe was just happy cause he wasn't getting the G-rated version of Liv's dance moves that he had experienced in the parking lot - and, to be honest, he was putting a little more effort as well. They danced through the night, only taking a break as the King and Queen were named. Needless to say, it was a great night.

"That was fun." Joe said as they entered the cool night air after the party was over.

"Indeed." Liv agreed, lacing her fingers in his as they strolled towards where the limo was waiting.

"So where should we go eat now?" he asked, smiling widely.

"You making fun of me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"No, I'm reading your mind." he replied. "You know you're hungry."

Liv sighed and agreed, and the two went out to eat before taking Liv back home. After all, Joe had promised to bring her home on time, or something of that nature. And even if he had promised a 5 year old, it still meant something!

However, a few days after prom, Liv called Joe, sounding oddly worried.

"Hey, can you come over?" Liv had asked, and Joe could tell over the phone that she was biting her lip in worry.

"Yea, sure, what's up?" he asked, pulling on his shoes while still being on the phone.

"Well...ah...I'll just tell you when you get here." she said distractedly.

"Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can." Joe said, walking out the door. They exchanged goodbyes, and Joe alternated walking and jogging over to her house. Linda let him in when he arrived.

"She's upstairs in her room, Joe." she said distractedly. "Go on up."

"Ok, thanks Mrs. Haddocks." Joe said, taking the stairs two steps at a time in order to reach Liv's door quicker. He knocked, a muffled "come in" answering him. Liv was pacing in front of her bed, an envelope with a college symbol laying on her bed.

"What's going on?" he asked, trying to stop her pacing. She kept going, biting her thumbnail and distractedly staring at the ground.

"That's my letter from NYU." she said, gesturing towards the envelope on her bed.

"Well," Joe said, sitting down on her bed. "did you get accepted?"

"I don't know." she answered quietly. "I haven't opened it yet."

Joe furrowed his brow. "Why not?"

"I mean, that's my future - our future, kind of - wrapped up all nicely in a postal envelope." she said, running a hand through her hair. "I just, I don't know what I'll do if I don't get accepted, I've been wanting to go there since I was young. And I don't know what we'll do if I get accepted-"

"Why don't we start with opening it?" Joe suggested gently. "You know, step one?" he continued. Liv stopped her pacing right in front of him and slowly nodded her head.

"Yea...yea, that sounds like a good start." she said, sitting down next to him and placing the envelope in her lap. But she couldn't seem to open it. "Please don't tell me I'm overreacting about this." she said suddenly.

"Relax, you're fine." Joe said, smiling encouragingly. "This is a stressful moment, but you'll never know unless you don't go for it."

Liv nodded resolutely, smiled at Joe semi-confidently, and slowly tore the envelope open. She pulled the official looking papers out, quickly skimming over the first few lines before clutching the papers to her chest and squeezing her eyes shut.

"What?" Joe asked; he had been unable to read over her shoulder. "What happened?"

Liv took a deep breath. "I got in." she said. Joe smiled brightly.

"Yes! That's great!" he said, shaking her shoulder. She was unable to contain her smile.

"I got in!" she repeated, grabbing him in a huge hug, the papers still clutched in her hand. They celebrated for a moment before she pulled away, a serious look on her face.

"But where does this leave us?" she asked quietly. Joe furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean?" he asked, not quite liking the direction this was going.

"I mean, I'm going to be all the way in New York, and you'll still be here and there and everywhere doing your music, and I'm just thinking...what are we going to do? Is there even going to be a we?" she asked.

Joe took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Well, what are you thinking? Honestly?" he asked. He knew what he wanted.

"I..." Liv thought for a moment. "I think that this has the potential to last a while longer than a few months." she said afer a second. "At this instant, I don't want to split at the end of the summer." she said resolutely. "I'm just not sure how much you would care for a long distance relationship."

Joe nodded. "I don't want to break up either." he said definitely. "But you're right - a long distance relationship is going to be difficult. But I think we've got enough fight in us to make it." he said, laying down on the bed. Liv smiled softly, laying down next to him and resting her head on his chest. "Out of curiosity, why NYU?" he asked softly.

"My dad went to NYU, so it's always been a pretty sentimental place. Plus, I grew up around there, and I love it. I was devistated when Mom said we had to move - but after 4 years, she couldn't take being surrounded by everything my dad loved, and she wanted a change. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but New York...it's my home." she explained slowly.

"Well I think it's absolutely great that you're getting to go to the college of your dreams." Joe said quietly, draping his arm loosely around her waist. "You're going to be brilliant there."

"Sometimes I wonder what good deed I did to deserve you." she whispered. Joe didn't say anything in response - he just pressed his lips to the top of her head - but little did she know that Joe had asked that question to himself (only about her) multiple times. He knew that the road ahead of them was going to be rough, but Joe had this urge in him to go for it. Something inside him was telling him that it would be worthwhile, and Joseph Jonas always followed his instincts.

The rest of the school year went quickly, and graduation came and went. As soon as the weather turned summery and perfect for swimming and other outdoor activities, Liv had to go to New York to settle things with the living arrangements, spend time with her family there, and do a few things that had to be done before she could attend NYU in the fall. In the end, she had been gone 5 weeks - enough time to test if they could handle a relationship long distance. It had been tough at first, but they worked things out to where they stayed connected - she would call him when she would be walking somewhere, or he would text her whenever he was pretty sure that she was home at her old apartment where they had lived before. She would tell him about the roommates that she was considering; he would tell her the latest antics between him, Kevin, and Nick.

That didn't mean he wasn't super excited about seeing her again, though.

He had wanted to pick her up at the airport, but Kevin wouldn't drive him. Liv also reasoned that her flight was getting in at around 2 or 3 in the morning, and would probably be late. And so, blast all, that meant he had to wait until Miley's pool party to see her again. He immediately grasped her tightly when they arrived, laughing with the absolute joy that he felt. But he was also excited about swimming, so he quickly led her out to the pool.

"CANNON BALL!" he yelled as they reached the backyard, jumping into the pool before anyone else did. Liv laughed and threw herself in after him. All the younger kids - those that were friends of Miley and Jackson from school - cheered as the party kicked off, water going everywhere as they all jumped in. The school friends kind of stayed separate of the "Hannah" friends - i.e., the Jonas Brothers plus Liv. But it was cool - Kevin chilled with Joe and Liv until Jess texted him. Nick was awkwardly placed for a while, but Miley soon came back to retrieve him, so it was alright. Joe and Liv were sitting on the side of the pool after a while, drip-drying as the freshman frolicked about. They watched the interaction like a bad Discover Channel documentary, until Dex picked Lilly up and she yelled something about "blood in the pool" and "stabbing."

"I think that's our cue to go inside and get a drink." Joe said, grinning mischeiviously.

"I concur." Liv said, smiling at what he was implying. They were pretty much dry by now, having sat out for over an hour after swimming for two hours before that. No one noticed as they snuck inside the house, leaving the freshman to their swimming and Kevin to his text messaging.

"Ok, where to?" Liv whispered, adopting the same expression as when she and Nick were turning the boys' rooms upside down (3).

"Quick, down this hall!" Joe said, pulling her down a dark hallway.

"Do you know where you're going?" she asked, feeling a little odd walking around in her bikini.

"Not a clue." Joe replied, opening a door at random. "Score! Study!" he said, leading her into the room. She ran over to the desk, carefully moving the items at the front to other places that were out of the way.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, standing next to her and placing a hand on her back.

"Well, this isn't my desk, so I can't dramatically shovel all this stuff off with a sweep of my arm." she explained, moving a paper weight and deciding her job was done. She turned to him and jumped onto the edge of the desk, a definite "come hither" look in her eyes. Joe didn't need to be told twice - he cupped her face with both hands, kissing her soundly, standing between her knees. She responded just as urgently - it had been a long five weeks, and she had missed her man! She gripped his waist as he slipped his hands into her damp blonde hair, messing up the already tangled locks. Joe was just considering deepening the kiss a little more when the door to the study creaked open. They sprang apart, worried that it was Mr. Stewart at the door.

"Oh, uh, I guess this room is occupied. Sorry." Miley said shortly before making a quick exit. They stood there, shell-shocked, for a moment.

"Well, I guess that means we should probably go out there." Liv said shortly. Joe sighed.

"Do we have to?" Joe whined.

"Dear, which is more awkward - making out in Miley's house, or making out in Miley's house while Miley and Nick know we're making out in her house?"

"Good point. Let's go." he sighed. As they exited the room, Miley and Nick turned to greet them...or taunt them.

"Hey guys!" Nick said enthusiastically. "So, what was going on in there?"

"Oh, Liv lost her...uh..." Joe began.

"Bracelet. I lost my bracelet." she said, casually running a hand through her hair in an attempt to fix it.

"Yea, and so we were looking for it. And it took us a while. But we...found it." Joe added awkwardly.

"Well, Liv, you should probably go to the doctor or something." Miley said, barely containing her laughter.

Liv cocked her head to the side. "Why?"

"Well, I mean, Joe was looking for your bracelet down your throat, and I'm pretty sure it's not good if you've got large pieces of jewelry in your body-"

"Ok, thank you Dr. Miley." Joe said sarcastically. "C'mon, babe, didn't you say you wanted a drink?" he said, offering her a hand.

Liv thought for a moment. "Why yes, I believe I did." she said, taking the offered hand and allowing herself to be led off to the kitchen. They did up getting a drink...eventually. They instead chose to catch up - you know, face to face - until most of the guests had left later in the evening, which was when the Hannah-plus-Jackson-plus-Oliver-and-Lilly crowd was able to chill in the hottub.

Joe was pretty sure that the world was going on around them, but a pretty deep conversation about the differences between LL Cool J and David Beckham had been interrupted to come sit in the hottub. Well, that story was their excuse, as they were really just flirting shamelessly - but quietly. Liv had thrown her legs over his, and he had casually rested a hand on her knee. He decided that this was not a bad position to be in.

"Joe?" someone that sounded vaguely like Miley broke in, but Joe was on a roll and wasn't stopping for-

"Joseph!" she said again.

"What?" Joe asked, frustrated that he had to stop in the middle of his story.

"We're about to verbally abuse Nicholas, and I know it's one of your favorite sports. Care to join?"

"Maybe later." he said, waving off and going back to Olivia. Eventually, though, the night ended - alas, it was inevitable. But they had the rest of the summer, so what was the rush?

X-X-X-X-X

(1) - spoof of Potter Puppet Pals, "Wizard Swears." I believe the exact quote is "I mean everything I ever say ever, because I'm Harry Potter"  
(2) - book written by Relient K (yes, the band) entitled "The Complex Infrastructure Known As The Female Mind: According To Relient K"  
(3) - Miley and Nick helped Liv turn Kevin and Joe's rooms upside down in chapter 5, "I'm Wet."

ah, thank y'all for everything! as always, leave some love or anything you want to see! peace out!


	8. Like a Bad Blink182 Song

thanks y'all! you rock! 

by the way, this chapter is going to span the two years between Liv leaving and the Jonas Brothers moving to New York, as seen in ClaireBear536's story "Backwards and Forwards." It is going to be a series of calls and emails to kind of alert what went on.

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 8: Like a Bad Blink-182 Song

"And you'll be gone how long?" Joe asked again as they stood in the airport terminal.

"Just until Thanksgiving - just three months, then I'll be home for a week." Liv replied, keeping her tone optimistic. Joe's brow furrowed.

"Three months is a pretty long time." he said. "Are you sure you'll be able to handle not seeing me for that long?" he asked cheekily. Liv rolled her eyes, laughing at his antics.

"I'll try my best to survive." she said sarcastically as the boarding call for her flight was announced. They both paused, a silence enveloping them.

"You should probably jet." he said quietly. "Time for you to fly."

"Time for me to soar." she added with a small smile. Suddenly, something small attached to her leg.

"Nooooo I don't want you to go!" Tyler yelled, crying. Liv immediately lowered herself to comfort the boy.

"Hey, it's ok, buddy. I'm only going to be gone a little bit - it's not for forever." she said softly, speaking to both Tyler and Joe. Linda came over and pried the sobbing Tyler off her.

"C'mon, baby." she said as Tyler continued to wail. "Olivia needs to go now." she added pointedly. Joe could see Liv's eyes slowly filling with tears, but she held them in.

"I'll see you soon, buddy." she said, kissing his cheek and ruffling his hair. She then held her mom for a few moments before kissing her cheek. Joe was last, receiving by far the best hug he had ever experienced in his life, as well as a soft kiss. They all waved goodbye as she went through security, watching until she was out of sight.

"Well, time to go home then." Linda sighed, taking Tyler's hand. Joe was unsure how to act - should he comfort her in any way? Would that be weird? It seemed weird. Tyler relieved Joe of his conundrum, however, by latching onto his hand as well as they exited the airport.

---

Sent: 15 August 2008, 11:54 P.M.  
From: "Olivia"  
Subject: home

Hey, Joe! Just dropping by to say I made it here alright, as in with only one incident between me and a slightly insane cab driver. Brit and Jane are all settled in alright - although, apparently the only things models eat are apples and soup. These models at least.

Class starts on Monday. I'm a little nervous. I miss you already.

Liv

Sent: 16 August 2008, 2:49 P.M.  
From: "Joe"  
Subject: RE: home

Well hello there! I'm certainly glad you're good to go. Am I going to have to come over there and have a little "talk" with this taxi driver? Also, you should probably teach those poor girls the amazing invention that is the sandwich.

Don't worry about school - you're going to be brilliant. I know you are. And I miss you too.

Joe

---

1 New message from Joe, October 31, 2008.

Happy Halloween! Do I get a trick or a treat this year?

1 New message from Olivia, October 31, 2008.

Well, I suppose I owe you a treat. Can be used at a later date.

1 New message from Joe, October 31, 2008.

Ah, don't worry. It will be. :)

---

December 15, 2008

Olivia smiled as she heard her phone ringing. Normally it wouldn't have made her this happy, but as soon as she heard the beginning chords of "Please Be Mine," (1) she couldn't help but smile to herself, even if the other people around her on the busy New York street probably thought she was a little crazy.

"Hello, stud muffin." she answered happily.

"Umm, this is Kevin..."

"Oh, sorry Kev. What's up?" she said, a bit flustered.

"Hahaha I'm kidding, it's me!" Joe said energetically. Liv chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"Good one." she said sarcastically. "So what's going on?"

"You're never going to believe this." he said, rushed. "Guess who is performing for the ball drop this year in good ol' New York City?"

"No way!" Liv exclaimed. "Justin Timberlake?!"

"What?! No!" Joe said. "The Jonas Brothers! Where the heck did you get Justin Timberlake from?"

Liv laughed. "I'm just kidding! I knew it was you all!"

"Girl, please." he said with a bit of attitude.

"Oh, whatever! You started this!" she said flirtily. "Anyway, can we talk about how you're coming here for New Year's?"

"Oh yea! So we'll be getting in on the 29th..." he said.

---

December 31, 2008

"And now, our special guests, the Jonas Brothers!" said Ryan Seacrest, introducing the musical act of the night. The opening chords of their number one hit single "So Close, So Far" (2) echoed over Times Square as they rocked out on top of a building, the cheers of the crowd barely reaching them at their great height. Liv was a couple floors down with a group of screaming fans, blending it with the crowd that was rocking out with them.

"You're so close, you're so far," they sang the last lines of the song. "but my heart can always tell where you are."

"And that was the Jonas Brothers!" Seacrest said as the song ended. "Now, it's 11:59! Let's see that ball drop it like it's hot!"

As the crowd turned to face the ball, Joe positively booked it off the stage, running down the stairs (well, he may have fallen down a flight or two). Olivia stayed in the crowd, watching the ball sparkle with different colors. She knew Joe had to be up on stage, and she was fully prepared to wish him a happy new year later that night after all the hype went down. She was not prepared to be pulled away from the crowd at a startling pace, only realizing it was Joe as everyone started counting down. They broke free of the mass just as it hit 1 second till, Joe pulling her to him and kissing her soundly. Everyone cheered in the new year, kissing and hugging each other, everyone so excited that they didn't notice another couple making out in the corner.

"Joe? Where are you, dude? We're on in like 10 seconds!" Kevin's voice buzzed in Joe's earpiece. The pair broke apart.

"Happy new year." he said, giving her one last kiss before sprinting back up to the stage.

---

1 New message from Joe, February 14, 2009

Roses are red,  
Violets are blue.  
Flowers are beautiful,  
And so are you.

Happy Valentine's Day! Miss you like a fat kid misses cake when his workout obsessed mother makes him go on the Atkin's diet!

---

Sent: 14 April 2009, 9:02 P.M.  
From: "Olivia"  
Subject: It's been...

Hey you, I know you're touring now, but I felt the need to talk to you. It's been too long, you know? Too long since we've seen each other, too long since you've had a break, too long since I've had a good day...I've been stressing out over classes and roommates and all...I guess what I'm trying to say is that I miss you. Like the kind of missing where your heart physically hurts.

Hope your show was excellent tonight - but I know it was.

Olivia

Sent: 15 April 2009, 2:27 A.M.  
From: "Joe"  
Subject: RE: It's been...

Hey, there, don't stress. It's been a while, yes, but you're ok, and I'm ok - we're ok. You just have to hold on, you know? Take a deep breath. Shake it out. C'mon, do it, don't just stare at your computer screen and think I'm crazy...there we go. You can call me anytime, mmk?

And, for the record, my heart hurts too. We match!

Joe

---

Early June 2009

Liv slowly walked into her room, glad that her roommates' doors were shut for once - after all, Jane's always smelled like cigarrette smoke, and Brit's always smelled, period. She opened the huge bay window, breathing in the clear air and stretching after a long day of classes and work. She kicked her high heels off - those dreadful shoes that she had had to become accustomed to both on campus and at her job. She booted up her computer, smiling as she found one new message from Joe. It didn't say anything, though, it just had a URL for YouTube.

"What...?" she whispered quietly, clicking on it in curiousity. The video was named "Joe's Dedication," which only encouraged her curiosity more. Did he send her some fan video or something? Hopefully not, some of them were just plain creepy. The video soon loaded, bringing up a picture of the Jonas Brothers onstage at a concert.

"Ok, ok," Joe was saying, trying to get the crowd to calm down. It took a while, but it was soon relatively quiet - which meant that the microphones could be heard over the dull roar. "We want to play a song for you that's a little bit older than this...you might remember it. I believe it's called 'Hello Beautiful'?" he had to pause to allow the crowd to stop cheering again. "I'd like to take a moment to dedicate it to a very special person in my life..." he continued.

"Me?" Kevin interjected.

"Not hardly." Joe retorted quickly over the crowd's laughter. He got the noise to die down again, and gestured to Nick. "Hit it, Nick." he said, Nick beginning to play the beginning chords of the song. "Olivia, this one's for you." he finished before singing.

Liv smiled at her computer, her heart fluttering. She sat and watched the video a couple more times (ten can count as a couple, right?), enjoying it more and more every time she watched it. After a few minutes she was able to compose her response.

Sent: 04 June 2009, 5:46 P.M.  
From: "Olivia"  
Subject: RE: For You

I think you just broke about a million 12-year-old hearts. Mine, however, is completely mended. :)

Missing you terribly, can't wait to see you again.

Liv

---

New Year's Eve, 2009.

It had been over six months since Joe and Olivia had seen each other, but being apart had gotten easier. The tour had ended, so Joe had a little more free time. Olivia's class load lightened, so she had a little less to do. The results? Well, Joe's brothers noticed that he seemed to be in a much better mood nowadays, and Olivia's roommates noticed that she seemed to have a smile on her face more often.

"Hey, you want to just stay in for New Year's?" he had asked over the phone a few days before. "We aren't performing anywhere for once, so maybe we can watch the ball drop together. Well, separately - but semi together?"

"That sounds great!" she had said. "Brit and Jane are both going to be elsewhere, so it'll be just you and me! And those thousand miles between us."

"Eh, details, details." he had answered. Little did Liv know...

And so, come 10:30 PM New Year's Eve, Liv was sitting in her apartment in her pajamas, enjoying a bowl of ice cream before she would call Joe at 11 o'clock. She relished in the silence of the empty apartment, watching a rerun of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as the time ticked by. However, her time was interrupted at 10:57 when there was a knock on the door. She checked the time - who would be calling on her at this time of night? She shook it off, figuring that whoever it was wouldn't take too long, and checked through the peep hole. One quick glance offered her the sight of familiar, curly-ish hair, and suddenly she couldn't unlock the door quick enough.

"Surprise!" Joe said, holding his arms open to her. Liv nearly screamed in excitement and jumped onto him, wrapping both arms and legs around him. He almost lost his balance, having to take a couple quick steps back into the hallway, but quickly regained his footing and wrapped his arms around her torso, holding her tightly.

"I can't believe you're here!" she said excitedly, her voice muffled by his shoulder. "How...what...when...?"

He gently put her down, putting an arm around her shoulders as they walked into the apartment. "Well, Kevin offered that we take New Year's off cause we've been doing so much lately - although, don't tell him that I told you this, but really it was because he had a hot date with Jess. And then Nick decided that it would be cool to spend it with Miley for once, so I was able to jet out here and see you!" he explained. She embraced him again.

"Remind me to send Kevin a thank you note. Or a muffin basket or something." she said, holding onto him tightly. He held her again, thinking that he had never expected to have someone that he would miss holding like he did with Liv. "I do wish you would have warned me a bit - I'm so not cute enough for company." she said, pulling away and gesturing to her shorts and tshirt.

"You look beautiful." he said, placing a hand on her cheek and kissing her. She responded immediately, her arms sliding around the back of his neck, bringing him closer to her. His hands slipped into her hair, which was much softer than he had remembered. He gently tugged it, taking the opportunity to kiss her neck softly as she lifted her head back. She hummed softly in approval, the vibrations making Joe's lips tingle a little bit. She soon couldn't take the absence of his lips much longer, dragging them back up to hers.

"Mmm, I missed this." she murmured against his lips, giving him another kiss. "But the hostess my mother instilled in me is positively dying. So help yourself to anything in the kitchen while I go change real quick." she said.

"Can I come too?" he asked cheekily. She rolled her eyes, pushing his shoulder.

"Just go get something to eat or something, I'll be back in a minute." she said, allowing herself one last kiss before scampering off to her room. He took the opportunity to take off his jacket, hat, and scarf before doing as she suggested and checking out the kitchen. The fridge was clearly separated amongst the three girls by shelves; the top two contained nothing but a couple apples each and obviously belonged to the two model roommates. The third had a bunch of random things on it, like what looked like a half-eaten piece of cheesecake and a pizza box, and was clearly Liv's. Nothing, however, seemed appetizing. He didn't even bother to check the pantry, deciding on a simple bottle of water before ambling back out to the living room.

"Does it really take this long to change?" he called down the hallway. He had traveled for a long time to be here - didn't she see that he didn't care what she looked like?

"It's not helping that I haven't done laundry in a long while!" she called back, finally running back in wearing jeans and a navy sweater. It also seemed as if she had taken a couple moments to brush out her blonde hair, which was still long and wavy. She collapsed on the couch next to him, grabbing his face and kissing him again.

"Well, I don't care about what you're wearing, I think you're beautiful anyway." he said when she pulled away. "In fact, you could be wearing nothing and I'd be okay with it." he smirked.

Liv laughed out loud. "I'm sure you would be!" she said. She glanced at the clock; it read 11:34. "Oh, I've got an idea!" she said, getting up again.

Joe made a small whining noise because she moved away. "And what might that be?" he asked as she pulled him up after her.

"C'mon, I'll show you." she said, pulling on her heavy coat.

"But the bedroom is that way," he said, jerking his thumb down the hall. "And I thought we just agreed on less clothes?"

Liv laughed again, buttoning her coat and wrapping a scarf around her neck. "Goodness, what's with you today? You're like a freaking 13 year old boy!"

"Seriously? Let me break it down for you." he said, finally consenting and putting his jacket back on. "1. You are hot. Like, smoking hot. As in, I worry for you because you live around so many members of the male species kind of hot. Dos, I haven't seen you in over six months. I feel like I've been through withdrawal and am just now being allowed my fix. And c, I am, believe it or not, a man." he explained, counting the things off his fingers as Liv pulled a beanie down over her head and ears.

"All good reasons, but not good enough for me to get struck by lightening." she countered. He stopped, cocking his head to the side.

"Huh?" he asked. She laughed again.

"I heard a speaker once that explained God's wrath as Him going 'smite you, suckers!' And the image of being struck by lightening has stuck with me ever since." she explained, now pulling on gloves. "But enough of that, get your gloves and stuff on!"

"Where are we going that it's going to be so cold?" he asked.

"You'll see, now come on!" she said, not even waiting for him to put on said gloves as she pulled him down the hallway. However, instead of going down the stairs as he expected, she went up.

"Um, I think we made a wrong turn..." he said, finally having all of his gear on.

"No, we're going the right way, trust me." she said, practically running up the stairs before reaching the door to the roof. She heaved her body into it, pushing the heavy door open.

"Quick," she said, holding it open. "put something there so it doesn't close all the way."

Joe scurried around, finding a randomly placed cinderblock a few feet away and sliding it in between the door and the frame. Liv let the door go, dusting her hands off and looking at the handiwork in approval.

"Ok, we're good to go." she said, her breath rising in soft clouds.

"Go where?" Joe asked, a little worried. After all, they were on the roof - there was nowhere to go except down.

"Over here," she said, grabbing his hand and walking out into an wide open section of the roof where a few iron-wrought chaise lounges were set up overlooking the city. "This is my favorite place to come when I need to be alone." she said, and Joe could see why. Lights from buildings and houses twinkled like a Christmas tree as far as he could see, which was very far. It also allowed a viewing of the stars, which shone brightly in the clear night air. She led him over to a chair, allowing him to sit down first before she placed herself in his lap.

"For warmth." she said, smirking, after he gave her an odd look. He rolled his eyes, smiling - he wasn't going to complain. They sat there for a while, not bothering to try and start a conversation. Joe remembered the first time they had hung out - how he had tried so hard to not let an awkward silence happen, how he had thought that if they weren't saying anything then something was wrong. But he was a little older, and practically a little bit wiser, and he realized that sometimes the best conversations are where nothing is said.

He looked at her face, the way the moonlight shone off of her pale skin, making her blue eyes sparkle and the light freckles on her cheeks more prominent. She turned to him.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked mildly, a soft smile playing on her lips.

"I'm trying to calculate how long it would take me to kiss every single one of your freckles." he responded, his eyes dancing. She laughed, throwing her head back onto his shoulder and resting it there.

"Probably years." she answered, staring into the stars.

"I better get started then." he said quietly, gently placing his lips against her cheek. "One," he counted, then did it again. "Two," he counted again, continuing across the tops of her cheeks. "Three..."

"Oh, look, the ball's going!" she interrupted, pointing towards Time's Square.

"But I'm not finished yet." he said, pouting.

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time later." she told him, tapping his frozen nose. They looked into the distance, watching the ball at Times Square drop, even if it was so small that a dime looked bigger. They could barely hear the crowd faintly counting down, the fireworks and confetti poppers sounding like they were a recording with the sound turned down. Liv turned to face him, giving him a kiss for good luck for the new year. Her lips were cold from the night, but they warmed Joe's soul, and it was then that he knew.

"I love you." he said quietly when they broke apart, looking directly into her eyes and feeling exactly how he had felt when he had asked her out all that time ago. Her gaze softened as she kissed him again.

"I love you too."

---

July, 2010

Olivia practically sprinted through the parking lot of the airport, trying to get inside on time. Her least favorite class had run late today, which in turn made her run late to go meet the Jonas Brothers as their flight came in. To say she was excited that they were moving here was an understatement - I mean, what were the odds that their new record label would have them based in New York? She slowed to a walk outside the automatic doors, inwardly cursing whoever had invented the high heel. She was a little nervous, she couldn't lie - it had been another six or seven months since she had been able to see Joe, and she couldn't help but wonder...

Her wondering soon took a backseat as the PA system announced that their flight had landed. Olivia had offered to pick the three boys up that day - Mr. and Mrs. Jonas plus Frankie were coming later in the week, but the boys had business with the record label that needed to get done as soon as possible. She tapped her foot impatiently, what could be taking them so long?

"Finally!" she muttered to herself as she saw three distinctly dark heads coming down the escalator, her heart doing a rendition of MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This" dance. The little mechanical stairs just couldn't seem to move fast enough according to Liv, as she felt as if it took them roughly twelve years to reach the first floor from the second. She practically flew over to where they were, latching onto Joe as soon as his feet touched unmoving ground.

"Oh my gracious you're finally here!" she said, her voice betraying how utterly happy she was. His arms wrapped tightly around her as he picked her up and swung her around.

"Yep!" he said excitedly. "All the time now!"

"I guess we're just chopped liver or something, Nicholas." Kevin said sarcastically to Nick, his voice carrying just enough so that Liv could hear them.

"Ew, that's sick nasty, Kevin." Nick responded. He wasn't in the best mood - he was having separation anxiety from his better half.

"No, you're not chopped liver!" Liv said, grabbing onto Kevin. He laughed, embracing the girl that had practically tamed his brother. She moved onto Nick, who's mood was a little better now that he was around the woman that had practically become his older sister.

"C'mon, we've still got time for lunch before you have to go to the record label's..." Liv said, intertwining her hand in Joe's as she led them out to the parking lot. As the afternoon wound down, she couldn't help thinking that her life was going in the right direction again - and she was going full steam ahead.

X-X-X-X-X

(1) - In chapter 6, "I Can't Believe I'm Related To You," Joe sang "Please Be Mine" to Liv.  
(2) - Not an actual Jonas Brothers song. I made it up.

ok, so this wasn't the best, but i hope you liked it. as always, leave love or anything you might want to see! peace out!


	9. Back to the Future

ok, so not a lot of love. what ev. here's more anyway! 

This chapter is similar to the last one, only this time it's taking you through the two years that passed while the Jonas Brothers were in New York, Miley and Nick being broken up, and as they return to California, as seen in ClaireBear536's "Backwards and Forwards." Enjoy!

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 9: Back to the Future

Late February/Early March of 2011

Miley woke up the next morning, not quite wanting to remember what had happened the day before. Her eyes were swollen and puffy from so much crying, but her tears were renewed as she once again recalled the fateful conversation between her and Nick.

_"I think we should just hold off...for a while at least," she replied quietly._

_"Hold off? Like break up?"_

_"No...I don't know. I just think we should take a break and just see what happens..."_

_"If this is really what you want, I guess..."_

_"It is," she said slowly._

She let out a small sob, grateful that her college roommate Lauren wasn't here to see this. She and Lauren were friends, yes, but things beyond the normal, shallow conversations about classes and school were uncomfortable and uncharted territory. Miley thought to call Kevin - he always made her feel better when it came to Nick - but it was early afternoon in New York, so he was probably busy. She couldn't call Lilly or Oliver, she knew they just wouldn't understand. Miley suddenly regretted not making a few more friends, maybe someone who could understand...Olivia. Miley couldn't believe she hadn't thought of this before - Olivia had gone through almost the exact same thing Miley was going through now, and the girl had ended up being like an older sister to Miley...perhaps she would have some pearls of wisdom.

Miley fought her tears, attempting to pull herself together as she dialed Liv's number. They were pretty good friends - after all, they were next door neighbors, and they were both dating members of the same family. She didn't pause to wonder if Liv was working or in class, she was just so desperate for comfort. This was the sort of thing a mother would help with.

"Hello?" Olivia answered, her voice rendering Miley back to sobs. Olivia made her think of Joe, who made her think of Nick...

"Miley?" she asked in a worried tone. "Honey, what's wrong?"

"I...I...I..." Miley was unable to form the words as a fresh wave of sorrow engulfed her.

"Ok, don't move, babe. I'll be right over - are you at your dorm?" she asked, and Miley could hear her gathering her things.

"Y-y-yea." she stuttered, not bothering to ponder why Liv would be in California instead of New York with Joe...and Nick.

"Ok, give me ten minutes." she said, hanging up before Miley had a chance to respond. Miley was relieved with the silence - maybe now she could compose herself before Liv made it. Exactly ten minutes later, as promised, there was a knock at Miley's door. She opened it without a second thought, her composure flying out the window as Liv quickly wrapped her arms around the younger girl. Miley let everything go, crying freely into Liv's shoulder as the older girl gently scooted inside, closing the door with her foot. Liv slipped her heels off so that she wasn't a good half a foot taller than the other girl.

"Shh, it's ok, hon." she said gently, holding Miley tightly. "It's all ok."

"I-I-I th-think I-"

"Don't worry about explaining right now, just calm down." Liv said softly, moving Miley to her bed, sitting beside her. Miley tried to stop the crying, but it became increasingly harder. Panic gripped her chest as her breathing quickened instead of slowed, her heart beating erratically.

"Hey, hey there. No hyperventalating." Liv said, pushing Miley's shoulders back and her back forward so that she was sitting up strait. "C'mon girl, focus on breathing out for me. Just breathe out..." she continued in the same mollifying voice. Miley was soon able to find a normal pace of breathing, the grip around her heart releasing.

"There we go. Here, munch on this while I make some coffee." Liv said, whipping a half package of cookie dough out of her purse. Miley didn't question, she just took it, picking off small bits without really eating much. Liv was over at the coffee maker, measuring the right amount of water and grounds to make enough for the two of them. She allowed the silence, and Miley was so glad that someone was not forcing her to talk for once. A few minutes later, the two girls were sitting across from each other on the window seat, Liv claiming that sunshine was good for the soul. She never asked Miley what was wrong - she knew that she would say something when she was ready.

"I think I broke up with Nick." Miley said a good half hour after Liv had arrived. Liv hummed, stirring her coffee idly.

"What makes you say 'think'?" she asked, still using that gentle, motherly voice. Miley stared into her own cup, sorting things out in her head.

"I told him that I thought we should take a break." she said slowly, but then suddenly rushed to explain herself. "It was just so difficult on me - he was never available, and I'm trying to get used to not having the Hannah life anymore, and I just really needed him to be physically with me and he wasn't and I just couldn't take it-"

"Shh, babe, it's ok." Liv said, patting Miley's hand. Normally Miley thought it was odd that Liv used pet names on most everyone, not just Joe, but right now it was precisely what she needed. Well, she needed her mother - but Liv was practically the next best thing, besides Mrs. Jonas. "You don't have to justify yourself to me." she added.

Miley let out a long breath she wasn't aware she was holding. "It was just so hard, you know?"

"Yea, yea I know." Liv whispered, looking down at her lap.

"How did you do it?" Miley asked, an almost pained tone in her voice. "How did you and Joe make it work?"

Liv sighed and gave Miley a sad smile. "I can't really help you there." she said apologetically.

"What? Why not?" Miley asked, suddenly getting angry, her emotions seemingly riding a rollercoaster.

"Because it isn't the same situation, darlin'. I'm not you, Joe isn't Nick." Liv explained patiently. "In fact, the only similar thing is that it was a long distance relationship. And it was tough - believe me, it was tough." she paused, shaking her head. "But the reality is, you need to do what you feel you need to do. You're in a huge transitional period of your life - you're no longer overly busy, you've begun college, and your best friend-slash-boyfriend has just moved away while all this is going on. You've got to take this time to -- hold on, sorry." her phone had begun ringing.

"Hello?" she answered.

"OH MY GOD!" Joe yelled.

"Hi to you too, darling." Liv said sarcastically.

"Did you hear about Nick and Miley?!" he asked, and she could tell he was not happy.

"Yes, but I can't talk right now, Joe." she said.

"But-"

"Not now, hon." she said pointedly.

"But Liv-"

"Joe. I will call you back later, ok?" she said shortly. "I'm sorry dear, but I'm right in the middle of something."

"Ugh. Fine." he said frustratedly.

"Love you." she said quickly, hanging up the moment he said "You too." She turned her phone on silent before going back to Miley, who was staring into the sunshine, oblivious. "What was I saying?" Liv asked.

"'You've got to take this time to...'" Miley repeated dutifully.

"Oh, right. You've got to take this time to 'find yourself,' so to speak. Basically, take some time to get to know yourself and how you tick. It's not going to happen quickly, and no matter how much I love Nick like a brother, he knows as well as I do that you're going through a huge change. He wants to be there for you, I'm sure he does - and I'm going to warn you now, he's only human. He's going to want to comfort you - you're the girl he loves!"

"Why does this have to be so hard?!" Miley groaned, putting her head in her hands. "Things were always so easy when we were younger. I just wish we could go back to that."

"We all do. But life is hard, and life is pain - anyone who says differently is selling something. (1)" she said, offering a small smile.

Miley frowned, suddenly not feeling as comforted. "I guess...I just don't know what to do. I didn't want to hurt Nick in any way, but I know he's hurt, and Joe and Kevin probably hate me right about now..."

"You can't worry about them, hon." Liv said urgently, taking Miley's hand. "You've got a lot of growing to do before you're ready to be with Nick again - if you ever decide you are ready to be with him. Nick's a big boy, and he cares a lot about you, so he's going to trust your judgement. He truly loves you, and I believe that you truly love him - it's just not the right timing, that's all." Liv said. Miley nodded; this seemed reasonable.

"And the brothers...?" she asked, the question hanging. Liv gave a soft laugh.

"If Joe gives you any trouble, ever, let me know and it will be dealt with accordingly." she said. "I can't quite speak for Kevin, though. I can call Jess if you want me to."

"No, I never really worried about Kevin. It's just...Joe and I have never had the best relationship." Miley explained. "I've always felt as if he didn't like me."

Liv's face softened. "He does like you, I know he does. I think he's just very protective of Nick, you know? He's seen him go through heartbreak before (2), and he just doesn't want to see it happen again. Well, I'm assuming all of this, he hasn't flat out told me before."

Miley nodded, accepting the answer.

"But seriously," Liv said, looking in her eyes. "he can get a little out of control sometimes - if he hassles you, let me know, cause he shouldn't."

"Got him under your whip, have you?" Miley asked wryly, giving a smile. Liv laughed again, rolling her eyes.

"I wouldn't go that far." she said, getting up. "Now c'mon, let's get you dressed."

"Where are we going? I don't really feel up for going out today..." Miley protested, not moving from the window seat. Liv pulled her up roughly.

"We're just going out for brunch. Now c'mon, put on your favorite dress and the cutest heels you've got. It'll make you feel better - trust me." Liv explained, opening the closet doors.

"What about you?" Miley asked, referring to the simple button down Liv was wearing over her dark jeans.

"Well, you are going to loan me your second favorite dress that matches those shoes." she answered, gesturing to the heels still haphazardly laying by the door. Miley laughed, deciding that maybe going out might not be such a bad idea.

---

Early March

Life had become rather scheduled for Miley as of late. She would go to school, do her work, and go out with friends predictably and periodically. However, life was a different story in New York City.

"Dude, Nick, c'mon - we're gonna go out and get some food." Kevin said as Nick passed him in the hall. Nick lifted his head, looking almost like a shell of his former self.

"Nah, not today, Kev." he said slowly as Joe was exiting his room.

"C'mon, Nickster! We're going to your favorite Chinese place!" Joe said enthusiastically.

"Just not today, ok? Bring me some takeout or something." Nick said defeatedly. Joe and Kevin shook their heads as he walked away - they knew that he wouldn't even eat the takeout.

"Dude, something has got to be done about this." Joe whispered angrily to Kevin. "He won't eat, he won't work - I mean, we had to do the encore by ourselves last night! That isn't right!"

"He isn't sleeping either, he's always up even later than I am." Kevin whispered back. "But I think we should probably just let it run it's course - we don't know the entire story, you know."

"But we know enough!" Joe insisted. "Liv keeps saying that Miley is doing 'just fine'! Why does she get to be just fine when Nick is like that?!"

"Seriously, Joseph, just let it go." Kevin said.

Joe made a noise of frustration. "But what are we supposed to do?!"

"Nothing. This isn't our battle, Joe." Kevin said, his tone holding a warning.

"Kev, we can't just sit here and not do anything - our brother's freaking dying or something!" Joe said, his voice a little above normal volume.

"You've just got too much energy. Let's go play some Guitar Hero and you'll be fine until Olivia comes over." Kevin offered. Joe sighed.

"I'll be there in a little bit." Joe said, walking into his room and closing the door. Kevin shook his head, giving up.

"Just don't do anything you'll regret later!" he yelled through Joe's door - but Joe was already dialing Miley's number.

"C'mon, answer your freaking phone..." he whispered as it rang.

"Hello?" Miley answered, a little bit hesitant.

"What are you doing to my brother?!" Joe had to contain himself from yelling.

"Why Joe, so nice to hear from you." Miley said sarcastically.

"Seriously, Miley. I've never seen him like this and it all leads back to one place - you."

"I can't control that..." she said quietly, which only made Joe more angry.

"Um, yea you can!" he said, his tone mocking. "You could...I don't know...not break his heart!"

"Joe, I don't want to talk about this. It's not any of your business anyway."

"Like frick it isn't my business! I've gotta be around him every day! He's never been this low and I can't take much more of it. It takes me and Kevin almost an hour to get him up in the morning, and even then it's nearly impossible to get him to do something! Do you know how difficult that is when we have a million places to be and a million things to do all at the same time? I mean, we've had to cancel some stuff cause he 'just wasn't up to it'! Last night Kevin and I had to do the freaking encore by ourselves cause we couldn't get him to go back out there!"

"Oh..." was all Miley could say, her breath rushing out of her. How could Nick let this interfere with his career?

"He's too freaking heartbroken to even write songs about heartbreak!" Joe said, his voice raised.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Kevin let Olivia in through the front door.

"Hey Kev, where is he?" she asked brightly. Kevin was unsure whether to send her up, but figured that if Joe was making an unwise decision, it should be brought to his attention.

"He's upstairs in his room." he said with a smile, planting himself back on the couch.

"Ok, thanks!" she said, her heels clicking on the tile floor as she walked across it. She almost jogged up the stairs, but upon reaching the top felt that something was wrong.

"Well aren't you the saddest little girl in the world." she vaguely heard Joe's voice coming through the door, sounding more cruel than she had ever heard him before. She couldn't quite make anything out until she opened the door. His back was to her and he was clearly very upset with someone. She leaned against the doorframe, her anger starting to build as she realized who he must be talking to.

"That's because you have no way of defending yourself." he said, still very angry. "You blew it and you know it!"

Liv heard the other person say something before hanging up, Joe making a frustrated noise and tossing his phone on the bed. He turned around, his angry face quickly changing at the sight of her.

"Hey, you're early!" he said, coming to greet her with a hug. She stood with her arms folded across her chest, her expression unchanged.

"Who was that?" she asked innocently enough - but there was definitely an underlying warning.

"That? Oh, no one, just...uh..." Joe tried to think of a cover story; he didn't want to tell his girlfriend that he had been yelling at one of her friends.

"I'm not stupid, Joe, so don't try and lie to me." she said coldly, closing her eyes and bowing her head. "Why were you yelling at Miley?"

Joe exhaled loudly, a bit of anger ebbing its way back in. "Have you seen Nick lately?" he asked rhetorically.

"Yea, and he's not looking too bueno." Liv said shortly. "So you were yelling at Miley because...?"

"Because she freaking broke my brother's heart! And she's not even sorry about it! She's just over there in California acting all cool and being like 'I'm great! La la la!" Joe said angrily, thinking Olivia would be with him on this. Instead, she began pacing, angrily running her hand through her hair.

"Joe, why would you ever do that?!" she said, trying her best not to raise her voice.

"Me?! Why don't you ask her the same question!" he retorted, this conversation not going like he wanted it to.

"She's trying her best, Joe! She needed some time to herself, it's an honorable thing!"

"'Honorable'?! She's-"

"I wasn't finished yet!" Liv interrupted. "She's going through the biggest transitional period of her life! She needs to be worrying about becoming herself right now, not trying to be what everyone wants her to be!"

"So the new self doesn't include Nick?" Joe asked.

Liv made a noise of frustration. "She...ugh, nevermind, I can't talk about this to you right now." she said, quickly walking out of the room. Joe's heart began racing in fear as he followed her out.

"No, c'mon, tell me what's going on-" he said. She turned around abruptly, stopping him in his tracks.

"I can't handle being around you right now, Joseph." she said, cold and in control. Joe's anger disappeared completely, replaced by remorse and worry. He stood in the hallway, shocked, as Liv angrily walked down the stairs. He didn't start going after her until she was almost to the door - which she closed before he could make it out.

"Oh my God." he said, gripping his head and pacing frantically. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my-"

"Dude, shut up, House is on." Kevin said from where he was still watching TV.

"Kevin! Oh my God, dude, you've gotta help me! I have no idea-" Joe ran up to his older brother, but was interrupted by Kevin holding up his hand.

"I can't dig you out of this one, Joe. This one's all you." Kevin said shortly. Joe blinked, staring in disbelief, and suddenly feeling quite alone. He numbly turned and went back up to his room, falling onto his bed and staring at the ceiling, hoping and waiting for the moment when Liv would call. He laid there for hours, late into the night and early in the morning, but he didn't move a muscle. His phone was in his hand - he was ready, and he was sorry.

The lights around him slowly turned off, and even Kevin and Nick had wandered off to bed when his phone finally rang.

"Hello?" he answered eagerly.

"Hi." she said softly, obviously much calmer than when she had left. They were both silent for a minute before she spoke up again. "I just...I couldn't sleep because things aren't okay between us."

"Join the club." Joe said, attempting to say it lightheartedly - but it came out halfheartedly.

"It's just...you weren't there whenever it happened. She was an absolute mess, and I can tell that she really hasn't done a lot since then besides sweep all that mess under the bed so that she appears ok." she explained.

"I'm sorry I yelled at her. Nick's just been so...yea, you've seen him. And it's tough for me to watch my little bro go through that and know I can't do anything to help him." Joe shed light on his side of the story.

"But did you really think that getting mad at Miley was going to help?" she asked softly, and he could tell that she wasn't accusing anymore, she was trying to understand.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time...in retrospect, not so much." he said.

"You've just got to realize that she really has so much going on inside her - she doesn't need the added stress, ok?" Liv said pleadingly.

"Ok, I understand now." Joe said submissively. And he did understand - it was just quite difficult to not be angry with the girl that was making your brother's (and, incidentally, your) life a living hell.

"Alright, well I've got to go to bed now." she said, and Joe jumped in during the pause.

"But we're ok, right? We're still together and all?" he asked, worried.

"Yea, as far as I know. Why wouldn't we be?" she asked, and he could tell that she was a little confused.

"Oh, um...just making sure, I guess." Joe lied, not wanting to tell her how most everyone thought he was going to screw up this relationship sooner or later.

"Ok. Well, I love you." she said, and she meant it.

"I love you too." he responded, also meaning it. They hung up, and Joe drifted off to sleep, phone still in hand.

Back in Liv's apartment, sleep was no where in sight. Actually, she was still on the phone.

"I'm so sorry, dear." Liv told Miley. "He had no right."

"You don't need to apologize for him, Liv." Miley said. "He's a big boy and should take responsibility for his own actions."

"I know, I know." Liv admitted. "But still...are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm okay." she responded. "Still a little shaken, but it's cool. I'll get over it just like every other fight I've had with him."

"I hate to say it, but you fight with my boyfriend like an old married couple." Liv said, and Miley laughed.

"We can't help it." she said. "For some reason, it's like we have to fight. Like, we can get along for a little while, but then something happens and we hate each other all over again!"

Liv laughed appreciatively. "Alright, well if you're okay, then I'll just let you get off to bed. I'll talk to you later?"

"Yep! Bye, Liv."

"Bye, Miles." Click. Now that everyone was appeased and taken care of, Mama Liv was finally able to go to sleep.

---

November, 2012

Joe danced into the house with the rest of the Jonas clan, excited about the deal they had just made.

"We're going back to California!" Kevin sang.

"What!" Nick added.

"Back to California!"

"OH!" Joe put in his two cents, but there was a question lingering in the back of his mind. A couple hours later, Nick had gone for a walk and Kevin was...well, Joe didn't quite know where Kevin was, but he was bound to turn up sooner or later for dinner. Joe took the opportunity of the semi-empty house and called Liv.

"Hey, can you come over?" he asked when she answered. "I've got some news."

"What kind of news?" she asked skeptically.

"Just...news, I guess." Joe responded.

"Ok, well I get off work in ten minutes, so I'll be there in twenty." Liv answered.

"Right-o, sounds good!" Joe said. They exchanged quick goodbyes before Joe began planning what he was going to say.

Twenty-five minutes later, Mrs. Jonas let Olivia in, telling her that Joe was up in his room. She went up, wondering what was going on, only to find him pacing around his room.

"I'm getting deja vu." she said, recalling all those years ago when she had received her acceptance letter to NYU. "What's up?"

"Oh good, you're here." Joe said, kissing her cheek and resuming his pacing. Liv slowly walked in, taking a seat on the edge of his bed.

"What's going on, Joe? You're freaking me out." she said, looking sideways at him.

"It's just..." he tried to start, made a few weird gestures, and finally just took the plunge. "We're switching record labels."

"Ok, that's a good thing, right?" Liv said after a moment.

"Well, yea, but..." he stopped.

"But what?" she asked, getting a little tired of the guessing game.

"It's based back in SoCal." he said bluntly. Liv jerked a little bit, as if she were shocked, but her expression didn't betray any emotion.

"Well that puts a damper on things." she muttered sarcastically to the floor. She moved her startling blue eyes up to his dark ones. "So what are we going to do?"

"Well, I mean, I know what I want to happen." he said quietly, not quite sure he intended for her to hear.

"Ok, tell me." she said, turning to him expectantly as he sat down next to her. He looked back at her, obviously not wanting to. "Oh, come on, I went first last time."

Joe sighed. "Well, honestly...I love you. Like I really honest to God love you, and I don't want to have to separate again." he said seriously, feeling a lot lighter now that it was out in the open.

"Ok, good, we're on the same page." Liv said, her eyes smiling. "But I'm going to say right now, that long distance thing nearly killed me."

"So what do we do about that?" Joe asked slowly, laying back on his bed and rubbing his face with his hands. Liv leaned on her hand, sitting up next to him.

"Well..." she started, playing with a loose thread on his tshirt. "If you're as serious about this as I am and as I think you are...I'll move back to Cali with you."

Joe sat up abruptly. "You would?" he asked, his face happy. He suddenly shook his head. "I mean, uh, what about school, and work and all?"

Liv laughed. "Well, I can transfer to school over there to finish my last year, I can quite my job and get one there, and I can sell the apartment." she said. "It'll take some time, but it can be done. I just need to know that our relationship is serious enough for me to do that."

Joe reached one hand behind her head, leaning forward and kissing her soundly. "When it comes to us," he said, resting his forehead against hers and whispering against her lips. "I am always serious."

Liv smiled, kissing him again. "Well then, I suppose I need to start getting all that in order." she said.

That evening, Joe was even more lighthearted than usual, and more excited than he should have been for their move back to California.

---

Late March, 2013

It took almost four months for Liv to arrange everything to be able to transfer back out to Malibu. Her mom and Tyler were, of course, ecstatic, but no one was more excited than Joe. They day her flight got in, he almost ran to the airport himself because he was so excited, and by March, everything was as it should be. Nick and Miley were back together, Jess and Kevin were getting pretty serious, and Liv had gotten all settled in.

"Lucy, I'm home!(3)" Liv called jokingly as she let herself in to the Jonas' house.

"Hey, I thought I was Ricky?" Joe said, greeting her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright, fine, you can be -- holy moley that's a huge piano!" she said, spotting the big black Steinway in the Jonas' living room. "When did you get that sucker?"

"A couple weeks after we moved in. Took forever to pick one, even if they all look the same." Joe said as Liv lightly touched it.

"It's so pretty." she said with the fascination of a five year old.

"Do you want to play it?" Joe asked, laughing at her childishness. And she said he needed to grow up!

"I don't know how - I was always to busy playing sports to pick up an instrument." she explained.

"Well I'll show you!" Joe said, sliding onto the piano bench. He patted his lap. "Sit here." he said cheekily.

"I'm not so sure I can trust you." she said, looking at him suspiciously. He held up his hands in innocence.

"No ulterior motives, I promise." he said as Liv slid onto his lap. He placed his hands on the keyboard in front of him. "There, now put your hands on top of mine."

Liv hesitantly laid her hands on his so that their fingers lined up perfectly. "Check." she said.

"Alright, ready?"

"Ready, captain!" she said, and Joe began to slowly play the first random song he thought of, her hands following his precise movements.

"See? Not that hard." he said.

"I'm basically a puppet." she quipped, but seemed to enjoy it none the less.

"But a very cute puppet." he said kissing her neck.

"Joseph!" Mrs. Jonas called from the doorway to the living room. "Are you making wise choices in there?"

Olivia started laughing and Joe hung his head.

"Oh, awkward." was all he said.

X-X-X-X-X

(1) - Quote from, of course, "The Princess Bride"  
(2) - Supposedly, Nick wrote "S.O.S." from an experience that he had.  
(3) - From the TV show "I Love Lucy." Every day her husband Ricky would come home saying "Lucy, I'm home!"

eh, not my fave, but it'll do! as per usual, leave love and anything you wish to see! peace out!


	10. Rooftop Confessions

thanks for the love, y'all! you rock! 

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 10: Rooftop Confessions

The days passed as everyone settled into their lives in California. Kevin and Jess finally got married after a couple years, Nick and Miley were engaged to be married in a couple months, and Liv and Joe...

"Lucy! I'm home!"...well, Liv and Joe were the same as always.

"I thought I got to be Ricky?" Joe whined again from where he was waiting for Olivia. He was sprawled across the couch in her apartment, looking as if he was quite bored.

"Well if you're the one sitting here all day doing nothing while I'm out working-"

"Hey, I did my work today!" he interrupted as she set her stuff down in the kitchen. "I've only been here for five minutes." he promised.

Olivia kicked her shoes off, walking over and laying down beside him, snuggling with him. "Well...whatever." she said as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Long day?" he asked, rubbing small circles on her upper arm as she intertwined her legs with his.

"Yes. Oh, that reminds me, the boring people I work with are having a boring dinner party tomorrow and I have to go. Will you pretend to be my spouse?" she asked.

"You just spent an entire day with these people - that meeting ran really late by the way. And why do I have to pretend to be your spouse?" he replied.

"Well it wouldn't have taken so long if I could've done my presention and been able to listen without someone sending me raunchy text messages." she said. "And they said that spouses were invited, but I didn't want to ask if boyfriends were okay cause I was just ready to get out of there...so I decided it was." she explained.

"They were not raunchy! And that sounds good to me." he replied.

"I believe that at one point a lap dance was mentioned." she said shortly.

"Ok, so they might have been a little frisky, but certainly not raunchy." he defended himself. "Now, would you like to go out to dinner or experience my excellent culinary skills again?"

"I think I'm still digesting the last experience with your culinary skills." Olivia said, smiling. "Besides, I picked up some cookies from Jackie's bakery."

"Cookies?!" Joe asked, rolling off the couch and running into the kitchen. Olivia stayed on the couch, rolling her eyes at his childlike tendencies.

"Just leave a couple for me..." she called to him, sitting up and stretching. He came back in, collapsing next to her with a cookie in one hand and the box in the other.

"Have a bite." he said with his mouth full, offering her his half-eaten snickerdoodle. She reached over and bit off half of it before leaning against him again. He nearly inhaled the cookie and went to dust off the cinnamon sugar that still clung to his finger tips.

"No wait! That's my favorite part!" she said, taking his hand and licking the excess sugar off.

"You know, if you weren't you I would think this is totally disgusting." he said, laughing.

"Whatever. It's been a long day and we're not going to be wasting the cinnamon goodness!" she said.

"Oh, yea, I see. So you wouldn't mind if I did this." he said, licking the side of her face lightly.

"Ew!" she said, rubbing her cheek on her sleeve. "My licking has purpose! You're just making fun of me now!"

"My licking had purpose too." he said, holding her by her shoulders so she couldn't move and kissing her slowly.

"Nu uh, your kisses will have no effect on me!" she said, reaching for the cookies and trying to grab one.

"Don't be so sure." Joe said borderline seductively, placing slow kisses down her neck.

"Not...gonna work..." Olivia whispered, her self control clearly waning. Joe moved painfully slow down her neck, each kiss light and deliberate. Just as he gave her collar bone a little nip, she cried "aw, screw it!" and pulled his lips back up to hers. He lowered her down on the couch, gently lowering himself on top of her and kissing her soundly. He supported himself with one arm, the other ghosting over her hip and waist. He smiled as her abs tightened - she was ticklish!

"No, no, we have to stop now." she said, laughing as he tickled her again.

"Oh, c'mon now, don't do this to me." Joe said, kissing her again. She smiled.

"Seriously, tickle fights lead to sex!" she said, squirming since he was still tickling her.

"Do not!" he insisted, refusing to let her go.

"How about we go get dinner instead?" she offered, knowing that Joe always had trouble focusing on anything when food was part of the equation. He stopped and began to seriously think about which would be better, giving Liv the opportunity to shimmy out from under him.

"That's what I thought." she said as she began to unbutton her top, walking towards her room. "Let me go change real quick."

"Nu uh!" Joe said indignantly. "You can't tell me we 'have to stop' and then just take your clothes off!"

"This is my house and I can take my clothes off whenever I want to!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Besides, it's not like my swim suit isn't more revealing than this..." she trailed off, going to go change out of her business attire.

"Not fair...I always get in trouble for wandering around without clothes..." Joe muttered to himself, waiting for Olivia. She emerged a few moments later, dressed down with jeans and a plain v-neck shirt, her blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail.

"Ready?" she asked, grabbing her purse.

"I was born ready!" he said, jumping up from the couch. She laughed, intertwining their hands as they left the apartment and entered the balmy evening air.

"So how's the new record coming?" she asked, the sun beginning to set as they sat down outside their favorite cafe, which was conveniently placed within walking distance of Olivia's apartment.

"Coming along pretty well, but we've got a good half of it to write and record before we can go into post production and all that boring stuff." he replied.

"Aw, your poor fans are going to die without having their Jonas for so long!" she said, supporting her head on her hand.

"Eh, they can deal." Joe said, waving a hand. "Personally, I think it's hard enough to write everything and record and all without having to deal with the tour and everything, but Kevin estimates that it'll be like a year and a half before we're back on the road again."

"Well that sounds like you'll be able to stick around for a little bit then!" Liv said happily.

Joe laughed. "Not like it does any good if someone's working all the time..."

"I know." Liv sighed, her mood suddenly dropping a little bit. "But as soon as I get myself established in the company and people freakin' realize that just because I'm blonde it does not mean that I'm stupid, then we'll be good to go." she said cynically. "It's gotten to the point that I'm considering dying my hair, just to see if it makes a difference."

"No!" Joe said, a little too quickly. "Please don't ever ever ever dye your hair."

Liv perked an eyebrow. "Ok?" she asked. "Can I ask why?"

Joe shrugged. "I just like it blonde, that's all. You know, the color your mother gave you." he said.

She gave a half smile. "Good enough for me." she said, just as her phone started ringing. She checked the caller ID, rolling her eyes and putting the phone away.

"Work?" Joe asked. "You should probably take it."

"Nah. As far as they're concerned, I'm in a very important meeting right now." she said, smiling. "If it's really super important, then they'll-" she was interrupted by the phone going off again.

"Call again?" he asked, having to laugh a little bit - he couldn't help it if she was so cute when she was frustrated. She sighed angrily at the phone. "Just take it, it's probably something huge they need you to fix because they're all to old and middle aged and men to figure it out."

She gave him an apologetic smile. "I'll just be a second." she said, answering the phone and turning away. "This better be freakin' important..." she said, clearly not very happy about being called.

Joe played with his food, knowing that she was probably going to be called away. He didn't really have a problem with it, cause it didn't happen very often. Only once in a long while would a dinner or some other date be interrupted by the old fogies that seemed to make everything ten times harder for Liv. Where did he have room to get ticked anyway? Being a rock star called him away much more than he liked, which was easier when she was in school and could miss a few days. But now with her work and his work, things just clashed sometimes. But he just loved her so much...

"I'm so so sorry, Joe." she said tiredly. "I'd explain if it weren't completely ridiculous, but..."

"It's cool, Kevin and Nick were talking about running over a few riffs tonight anyway." Joe said, noticing that she suddenly looked a lot more tired than usual. "Hey, you ok?"

"Huh? Oh, yea, I'm fine." she said, shaking her head.

"You sure? I mean, you look flippin' exhausted." he observed. "Have you been sleeping enough and such?"

"Do I ever?" she asked rhetorically. "Just been a few too many late nights in a row with work, plus helping Miley with planning her wedding and everything...But it's all good. I'm fine." she said, getting up. Joe followed her lead, hiding the fact that he was reminded that his younger brother was getting married to Yoko-freaking-Ono.

"Well take an early night one of these days, kay? Don't want my muffin to get sick!" he said as if he were talking to a small child. She rolled her eyes, but had to smile.

"I can't make any promises." she said before giving him a kiss. "I love you."

"Love you too." he replied, and they went separate directions.

As the days passed by, Joe could tell that all the things going on in Liv's life were really starting to take a toll on her, but she didn't let up on anything. They still hung out, and she still seemed to be her vibrant self, so Joe let it slide for a while.

"Ooooh, is this a present for me?" he said one day, trying to look through the pink paper of a Victoria's Secret bag. Liv slapped his hand away, smirking.

"No, that is not for you or me - that's my secret wedding present for Miley." she said. Joe jumped a few feet away from the bag, suddenly not near as interested.

"Ew. Nevermind." he said, barely containing a smile. However, when he looked over, she didn't look amused. In fact, she looked depressed or something.

"Speaking of Miley," she said quietly, finally looking at him. "I heard that you told her that you didn't want her to marry Nick?"

Joe's heart started beating quicker - oh crap, he'd really done it this time. He refused to look her in the eyes, suddenly finding his shoes much more interesting. She sighed, seeing that his silence implied guiltiness.

"I'm so sorry," he said suddenly. "It's just...she left him once, and I couldn't bear to see Nick have to go through that if she did it again." he explained, rushed.

"But there's got to be more to it." Liv said, shaking her head. "Joe, I mean, the girl feels as if you absolutely hate her."

"Well I can't help it if she's Yoko-freaking-Ono!(1)" he said in an effort to explain himself.

"That's what this is about?" Liv asked, taken aback. "You're afraid that she's going to break everything up between you all?"

"Well...yea. I mean, Nick would do absolutely anything for her. What's to stop her from asking him to just quit his life with us and run off?" he said bitterly. Liv sighed again.

"Joe, but you know he would do anything for you and Kevin as well. He loves you two just as much as he loves her - it's just a different kind of love, that's all." she explained. "You can't just do that to her though. I'm having difficulty believing you would."

Joe's heart started beating quicker again as a fear settled into the pits of his heart. He began feverishly begging in his head, _Please don't break up with me, please don't break up with me..._

"I just want to take care of Nick, that's all." he said pitifully.

"I know, I know you do - but you need to grow up a little bit. You can't just burst out with things...like this." she said reproachfully, but not forcefully. She sat down on the couch, and he immediately lowered himself beside her, still fearful.

"I'm sorry, I just don't know what came over me..." he offered, trying to patch things up before it all unraveled at the seams.

"Yea, I know. But you see this side of yourself? The side that's around me, the sweet and caring person, the Joe that's understanding? You need to show that to everyone, cause Miley is really not feeling good about it. As of right now, you're not invited to the wedding. Do you realize how awful that would be if you weren't there to see your brother get married?" she said, grasping his hand.

"I'll talk to her, I'll let her know what's going on and I'll apologize and everything." he said urgently, looking into her eyes, trying to read her mind.

"Darn right you will!" she said, offering a half smile. They stayed silent for a moment.

"So...are we ok? You're not mad at me, are you?" Joe asked meekly. She looked down, sighing for what seemed like the millionth time.

"I'm not mad, per say...I guess I'm just disappointed in you." she said, shrugging. She turned to him, her blue eyes staring insensely. "Why do you always ask that?"

"Ask what?"

"Something along those lines - after we've had a discussion or an argument, you always ask if we're ok."

"I guess..." he stopped, trying to formulate his response. "I guess I'm always afraid that every time I screw up, that that's going to be it. You know, like the straw that breaks the camel's back? And I don't want to break your back, cause I love you and I can't picture my life without you...the thought just kind of scares me, I guess." he mumbled, looking back to the floor. She reached over and grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers in his.

"I'm a pretty tough camel," she said, looking at him. "but I don't want to have to handle much more, okay?"

"Okay!" Joe said, simply relieved that it was all good. Well, most of it was good.

"Okay, so we're all going to Kevin's in a few days, are you going to talk to her then?"

"Yea, I'll talk to her."

"Alright, good. Cause I'll need you to be at that wedding - everyone's going to be all sickeningly sweet, and it's no fun to be around that when your own sweetheart is blacklisted." she said, her face showing some amusement. He smiled back, his heartbeat returning to normal.

A few days later, everyone was gathered at Kevin and Jess's house, awaiting some "news" that they had. Joe and Liv were late, as per usual, joining the others in the dining room a few minutes before the food was served. This solved a little bit of Joe's delimma for him - he didn't have to try and make awkward conversation around Miley while they were all waiting and such. After everyone had eaten, normal dinner chatter and such separating the two, Kevin stood up at the head of the table, Jess right beside him.

"Ok, so I had mom and dad and all of you come here because I - well, we - have something very special that we would like to tell you." he said, putting an arm around Jess and pausing for dramatic effect.

"Well?" Joe interrupted. "C'mon! Do you have a terminal illness, did you get a puppy, what?!"

"Shh," Liv said, shushing him - but she was struggling to contain a smile. "Be patient for once in your life, alright?"

Joe exaggeratedly zipped his lips, miming dropping the key down the front of Liv's shirt. She rolled her eyes, glad the attention had moved off of them.

"Well, what I was going to say before Joseph so characteristically interrupted us was," Kevin paused again, "we're having a baby!"

"WOO!" Joe yelled, giving his brother a high five. "Way to go, Kev!"

Everyone gathered around them, asking various questions and hugging the couple, everyone trying to get in a word edgewise. Kevin wisely decided that they should move to the living room, where the space was more open.

"Now's your chance." Liv said, squeezing Joe's hand before following the others into the living room. Soon, it was just Joe and Miley.

"Hey, Miley?" he asked hesitantly. She looked to him, her guard clearly up.

"Yes?" she asked shortly.

"Do you think I could talk to you real quick?" he asked. She looked at him, trying to determine his intentions.

"I suppose." she said, gathering the dishes in order to have something to do with her hands. Joe jumped onto the island, motioning for Miley to join him. She chose to lean against the sink opposite of him.

"Ok, so I've been wanting to talk to you for a while about this," he said, looking at his hands and playing with his ring. "but we both know that I can be pretty stubborn." he finished. She crossed her arms, nodding enthusiastically.

"It's just..." he struggled for words. "I'm really sorry, for everything. I've just been having problems with the idea of you and Nick getting married. I mean, Kevin got married a few months ago and is having a freakin' child, now you two are getting married and...I just feel like I'm a little lost in life, you know? We've always been a little competitive, and now I'm completely out of the race or something..."

She nodded again, her face softening slightly.

"I mean, I always thought I would get married before him," he continued, still looking at his hands. "cause I'm older and all. I suppose I'm just a little jealous, cause my life isn't all planned out. I have no idea what's going to happen between me and Liv - I mean, I know what I want to happen, but..." he paused. "You two just have everything so...so solid. And it's hard to see you guys have everything so put together when I'm just fumbling around in the dark."

"It'll all come together for you, Joe." Miley said, trying to comfort him. "Even if it's not with Liv, you'll catch up, so to speak. But I mean, no matter how bad you're feeling, you can't take it out on me."

Joe vaguely remembered Liv saying something kind of similar. "I know, I'm sorry. It just seems like you're the easiest target?" he offered, kind of half laughing.

Miley shrugged. "Yea, it's always been like that. But seriously, Joe, I'm running out of patience." she said bluntly.

"I know." he said, nodding fervently. "I'm really gonna work on it, for real. Plus, Nick kind of threatened to kill me, so living is always a good motivation..."

"He can be a little protective..." Miley said, laughing softly.

"And I can understand why - I do the same thing with Liv...it's what you do for the people you love." he said, more to himself than to Miley.

"You really love her, don't you?" she asked quietly.

"A lot." he said.

Miley laughed, shaking her head. "When you first met her, I never thought it was going to last this long. And I wouldn't have said that you would've fallen this hard for her, or even have a relationship like this."

"You wanna know a secret?" Joe asked rhetorically. "I didn't think I could either. I mean, I had convinced myself like five million billion fufillion (2) times that she was going to dump me. But amazingly, she's stuck by the whole time."

"It's gonna work out for you, Joe." Miley assured him. "Don't worry."

Before Joe could respond, Nick walked into the kitchen, effectively breaking their serious conversation.

"I didn't hear screaming, so I took that as a good sign." he said. "Although I was afraid someone was being smothered with a dish towel or something."

"No, no bloodshed or anything." Miley said, greeting him with a kiss.

"Yea, we're all good. Anyway, I'll leave you to your woman - mine is probably wondering where I am." Joe said, hopping off the island.

"Actually, your woman is enjoying herself cause she doesn't have to babysit you!" Nick teased. Joe, ever the more mature older brother, stuck out his tongue.

"Oh, and for the record," Joe said, talking with Miley again. "I'm sorry for calling you Yoko-freaking-Ono."

Miley got a curious look on her face. "You never called me Yoko-freaking-Ono." she said.

"Oh. Nevermind then! Forget I said anything!" Joe responded, ducking out and going back into the living room with the others. Liv could see on his face that everything worked out well, and laced her fingers in his as he jumped into the baby conversation.

Later that night, Joe went back to Liv's apartment with her. It was a warm night, so they grabbed a couple drinks and headed up to the roof, feeling reminiscent of the New Year's all those years ago. They stood at the edge, resting their forearms on the wall that protected them from falling off.

"So?" she asked, looking at him. "How did it go?"

"We're good to go, I think." he said, looking out to the horizon. "I mean, she didn't kill me, so that's a good sign."

Liv laughed. "Yea, that's a pretty good sign there." she said. They fell silent, looking out together, their elbows the only part of their body touching.

"Do you think we'll ever get married?" Joe asked quietly, turning to Liv. She looked to him, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I'd like to think so." she responded, cocking her head to the side with a smile. Joe smiled back, his heart doing that odd cha cha slide-macarena combination.

"Me too." he responded.

"I don't think we're ready quite yet, but it's pretty darn close." Liv said, bumping him with her hip.

"Just promise me it won't be when we're like a hundred and twelve years old and I'm proposing off of my death bed." Joe said. He was excited beyond belief. He had been kind of playing with the thought of marriage with Liv, and he had to admit that he quite liked the idea. Actually saying out loud to her made it that much better.

A couple months later, after Miley and Nick's wedding had come, partied, and gone, Joe was wandering the house, looking for his mom. He knew in his heart that it was the right time, but a little bit of Mama Jonas advice could never hurt!

"Mommy!?" he called. "MOMMA!"

"What is it, Joseph?" Mrs. Jonas asked, rushing out of a room. Joe was suddenly a little nervous.

"Can I talk with you?" he asked. She looked at him oddly.

"Of course, hun, let's sit." she said, leading him over to the couch. "What's on your mind?"

"It's just...what do you think of Olivia?" he asked, stalling just a little bit.

Mrs. Jonas sighed - she so knew what was going on. "Honey, what are you really asking?"

"I guess...I mean, I want your approval for me to ask Liv to marry me." he said. Mrs. Jonas smiled.

"I think," she said slowly. "that Olivia would make an excellent addition to our family."

Joe breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, mom."

"No problem, dear." Mrs. Jonas said, patting her son's hand affectionately. Joe then went on to phase two of Operation: Wed Liv - he had to go talk to Linda, and the substitute of Liv's father, Tyler. Joe called Linda, basically having to make an appointment after assuring her that nothing was wrong with Olivia. He met her and Tyler at their home, which was still next door to Miley's dad.

"So, Joe, what did you need to see me for?" Linda asked, a bright/suspecting smile on her face. Tyler, who was now about twelve or so, simply sat and stared at Joe.

"I was wondering..." Joe began, then tried to switch and sound more grown up. "I mean, Mrs. Haddocks, I love Olivia more than I ever thought was possible to love someone, and I was hoping that you would give me your blessing for me to ask her to marry me." he said, all in one breath. He wasn't sure he quite made complete sense or that his grammar was completely correct, but Linda still got the message. She sighed, her eyes adopting a dreamy look as she stared beyond Joe and out the window.

"I remember when you first came here." she said as Tyler rolled his eyes. "You were coming to help Olivia run all her errands, remember?"

"Like it was five and a half minutes ago." Joe responded.

"I remember that I was so relieved that someone was going to be helping her out that day...we were still so disorganized and so much was going on...What I'm getting at, Joe, is that you have been there for her when I have been unable to, and helped her in ways that I can't and in ways that I'm not supposed to."

"...So is that a yes?" he asked, a little confused. Linda laughed.

"Yes, you have my blessing." she said. Joe grasped her hand.

"Thank you so much." he said. He was interrupted before he could continue.

"Hey! Isn't anyone going to ask me?" Tyler asked with a bit of attitude.

"Tyler, can I marry your sister?" Joe asked the boy. Tyler shrugged.

"Sure." he responded. Linda laughed again, shaking her head.

"Thank you for asking, Joe - it means a lot." she said. "Now, go propose to my daughter or I'll have to do it for you."

Joe smiled at the woman. "I'll jump on it then!" he said, shaking her hand once again and taking his leave. He was certainly very glad that Linda had given him her blessing - after all, he had bought the ring a few days before and he wasn't quite sure the return policy on it. He called Liv, setting up a date for that evening. He told her to dress nice, this was a "special occasion."

That evening, they met out on the boardwalk, Olivia dressed in a flowy white summer dress, Joe in his shirt and tie. Was she psychic, perhaps?

"So?" she asked after greeting him with a kiss.

"So what?" he responded with a smile. His insides were squirming.

"What's the special occasion?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I guess it's not really an occasion, per say." he said, and paused for a few minutes. "Did I ever tell you that no one really expected this?"

"Expected what?" she asked curiously.

"Us. Like seriously, I think Kevin and Nick were betting on how long it would take before I screwed everything up."

"But you didn't." Liv said happily, kissing him. "So where are you going with this?"

"Well..." he paused again, unsure where to go from here. "Do you realize where we are?"

She looked around her, and he could tell that she had an idea of where they were, but wasn't sure enough to answer. "Kind of..." she said.

Joe smiled brightly. "This is where we came on our Valentine's date." he said as they rested against the rails of the boardwalk. The sun was on it's decent, almost touching the horizon, which cast a golden glow on everything around them. She looked again and gasped, bursting into laughter.

"Oh my gosh, it is, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically. "Goodness, it looks so different in the daylight! But why would you want to come here?" she asked, looking at him oddly. "I mean, it's a beautiful spot and everything, but..."

"Well, this was where we had our first official date as boyfriend and girlfriend." Joe said. "And I guess it'll hold special significance in the future." OH he was good!

She cocked her head to the side, smiling. "Really? And what will it signify?"

"This." Joe said, reaching behind her head and kissing her passionately, trying to convey the entirety of his love in those few moments. When he pulled back, he looked strait into her brilliant blue eyes, which were sparkling in the setting sun, and dropped down to one knee. She covered her mouth with her hands as he pulled out the ring.

"Will you marry me?"

X-X-X-X-X

(1) - Word on the street is that the Beatles broke up because John Lennon married Yoko Ono.  
(2) - From Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies. He asks for one million billion fufillion dollars.

hahhahahaha ok i'm sorry i'm leaving you hanging! but seriously, does anyone really not know what's going to happen? that's what i thought. as always, leave love and ideas of anything you want to see! peace out!


	11. Two Busy Bees

gracias, mis amigos! 

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 11:

"Will you marry me?" Joe asked, holding the ring out expectantly. Liv took a deep breath.

"Yes! Of course!" she nearly screamed, wrapping her arms around him as he stood up. He picked her up and twirled her around in the light of the setting sun, laughing joyously. After a few moments, he put her down and slipped the ring onto her finger. She gazed at the ring, quite amazed by the way the diamonds sparkled. It was a relatively simple ring, but he couldn't have made a better choice - white gold, a big round cut diamond in the middle, and two smaller round diamonds on the side.

"I have to call people!" he said excitedly. She almost jumped up and down.

"Yes! You call your brothers - I need to call my mom!" she replied, whipping her phone out and dialing the number quickly. Joe followed in suit, dialing the number to Nick's new house.

"Hello?" Nick answered. Joe almost spontaneously combusted with excitement.

"OH MY GOD, SHE SAID YES!" he almost yelled. He could practically hear Nick wince with the volume.

"Joe?" Nick asked after a moment.

"Yes it's me, and I'm freaking getting married!" Joe said excitedly.

"Shh, use your inside voice, Joe, you're giving me a headache. So I think what you're telling me is that she said yes?"

"Yes! Now I get to be like you with a little wife at home and everything!"

"Uh, I wouldn't describe Olivia as 'little'..." Nick said uncertainly. "She's taller than you with her heels on." he finished. Joe heard him relaying the story to Miley. "Miley says congratulations."

"Tell her thanks." Joe said. He noticed Olivia was off the phone and was tugging on his tie in an effort to politely tear him away from his brother. "Anyway, I gotta go cause Olivia is waiting. But I just wanted you to know."

"Thanks for callin', bro. I'll talk to you later." Nick said, laughing.

"Ok bye!" Joe said quickly, hanging up and kissing his fiance soundly. Hmm, fiance...he liked the sound of that.

"Were they super excited?" she asked when they broke apart. "My mom certainly was."

"Relatively speaking, pretty excited!" he answered. "Now I just need to call Kevin."

"Well hurry up, I want to spend time with my fiance on our engagement night!" she said. Joe smiled in response, hurriedly dialing Kevin's number.

"Hello, Jonas residence."

"Jess! Is Kevin there?" Joe said, rushed.

"Joe?" she asked.

"Yes!"

"Yea, Kevin's over-"

"Oh, never mind, I'll just tell you!" he said, sounding very excited. "Olivia said yes!"

"'Yes' as in the engaged kind of yes?" she asked.

"Yes! I'M GETTING MARRIED!" Joe almost yelled in excitement.

"Well congratulations, Joe!"

"Can you tell Kevin when he finds his way home?" Joe asked quickly; Olivia was tugging on his tie again.

"He's right next to me, he said to tell you congrats as well." Jess said.

"Thanks, Jess! I'll talk to you later."

"Ok, bye Joe."

"BYE!" he hung up, grabbing Liv's hand and spinning her around. "WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!" he said excitedly.

"I know!" she responded, laughing. They spent the rest of the night celebrating, the excitement never dying down. At the end of the night, Liv adamantly denied Joe a sleepover - she knew that they were both probably a little too excited for their own good.

A week or two later, Liv was sitting at her desk not doing her work, opting for looking at wedding stuff instead. She was just considering the difference between "Olivia Jonas" and "Olivia Haddocks-Jonas" when the phone rang.

"Hello, Olivia Haddocks." she answered tiredly - she was planning on doing minimal work today and try to start planning her wedding. Sure, she had about six months to do it, but she knew from helping plan Miley's wedding that even with so much time, you can always find something else that needs to be taken care of.

"Liv? It's Miley." Miley said in a small voice.

"What's up, hun?" Olivia asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yea, I'm alright, it's just..." she paused. "Can you come over here?"

"Like, right now?" Liv asked, pulling up her schedule on her laptop.

"Yea..." Miley said softly.

"Give me five minutes to reschedule a couple things and I'll be out of here. What's the problem, babe? Is it something with Nick?" she asked.

"No, no, nothing like that...I'll just explain when you get here." Miley responded. They exchanged goodbyes, and Olivia made a couple quick phone calls before practically running out the door. Miley sounded really worried, which made Liv worry. Ten minutes (and two avoided speeding tickets) later, Liv pulled into the driveway of Nick and Miley's house. She jogged up the steps, knocking impatiently on the door until Miley answered.

"Ok, honey, what's up?" Liv asked, stepping over the threshold and unceremoniously dropping her things on the dining room table. Miley didn't say anything; she just held up a pink box, the words "pregnancy test" jumping out at Liv.

"Oh, I see." Olivia said, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Do you really think so?"

"I'm kind of hoping so." Miley said. Liv's heart fell a little bit - there was quite the difference between hope and positivity.

"Well, let's have a look then, shall we?" she replied, trying to be optimistic for Miley. Miley nodded affirmatively and led her to the upstairs bathroom. Liv waited in a comfy chair outside of the bathroom while Miley did her business, praying that things would turn out well for the younger girl. Miley came out after a couple minutes, shaking the stick.

"It says to wait for five minutes." she said, still shaking the stick. Liv took Miley's hands in hers to steady them.

"I don't think shaking it is going to help, dear." she said, laughing a little bit. Miley gave a half-smile, but nothing more than that. She decided to go a different route. "Who all have you told about trying?"

"Besides Nick, you mean?" Miley asked wryly.

"Of course." Olivia replied, laughing.

"Just you." Miley replied.

"Oh." Olivia said, taken aback. She wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Well, thank you for confiding in me."

"It's no bid deal." Miley replied, shaking her head and glancing at the clock - three and a half minutes left now. The rest of the minutes passed in silence, seemingly lasting three and a half lifetimes.

"Ok, it should be time now." Olivia said softly. Miley looked - there was nothing but a small little dash to seal her fate. Olivia took it from her, giving it a once over.

"It's negative." Miley breathed sadly. Olivia shook her head.

"Maybe it's a faulty test. I read somewhere that you should always take two, just in case." she said, trying to be encouraging. Even she was hoping for a positive for the girl.

Miley slowly nodded her head. "Yea...yea maybe it's just defective..." she said, taking another test out of the box. Roughly six and a half minutes later, Liv was sitting on the edge of the bathtub as Miley checked the clock again.

"It's supposed to be a plus, right?" she asked innocently.

"Yea," Olivia answered. "a plus is positive and a minus is...well..."

"How much longer?" she asked.

"About thirty more seconds." Olivia replied, glancing at her watch. Thirty one seconds later, Miley snatched up the test, sighing in frustration.

"Negative." she said. "Do you think maybe I should take another one?"

"You've already taken two," Olivia said in a motherly way. She gently rubbed Miley's back, trying to comfort her. "I don't think third time's the charm on this one. And you haven't even been trying that long, so don't worry about it if it doesn't happen right away."

"Yea, it's just a little frustrating...plus, Nick doesn't really want to talk about it with people, and he doesn't want to talk about it all the time, so I have to keep it all to myself..."

"You know I can keep a secret." Liv said, smiling. She patted Miley's hand comfortingly.

"Thanks." Miley said, giving a small smile in return. They sat in a semi-awkward silence for a few minutes, neither one quite knowing what to say.

"Well," Olivia said after a few minutes. "I should probably get back to work. I've been kind of slacking today."

"Yea, ok." Miley said. She didn't really want to be alone, but she knew how much work Olivia put into her job.

"Are you gonna be ok?" Liv asked, rubbing Miley's arm. Miley shrugged.

"Yea, I'll be fine." she replied, mustering up a fake smile. "I think I'll just take a nap or something until Nick gets home."

"Ok," Liv said as they made it into the entrance hall. She grabbed her things. "you call me if you need anything else, okay?"

"Okay." Miley said. They embraced before Liv raced back to her office, trying to get enough work done so that she could get distracted by her wedding plans the next day.

The next few weeks were a little hectic - Joe had a lot of things going on, and Liv's workload suddenly increased dramatically. Miley was also stressing about baby things, and Liv couldn't help but try and take care of her a little. Liv felt awful having to keep the secret from Joe, but Miley had wanted it to be kept quiet, so she would keep it quiet. Then, as if all that weren't enought, the public had gotten word of their engagement, so there were constantly people calling trying to get the inside scoop. Needless to say, wedding plans were coming along very slowly.

A few weeks after that original day with Miley, Olivia got a text message from Miley asking to come to coffee at their house the next morning. Apparently, she had been pregnant, and then had a miscarriage. Olivia sighed as the read the text, gathering the mounting wedding stuff and pushing it aside.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked from where he was looking at wedding stuff right next to her. She hummed distractedly.

"Miley's just having some problems." she said vaguely. She glanced at the clock - it was much later than she thought.

"I should probably go now." Joe said, practically reading her mind. She smiled softly.

"Ok. So tomorrow, let's actually make some decisions, yea?" she said, smiling. Joe laughed.

"Sounds like a good plan to me!" he said, kissing her goodbye. "Love you."

"Love you too." she responded, smiling as he left. Her face fell as she was left alone, stretching before getting ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

The dreaded morning came all too quickly, and Liv was on Miley's doorstep a bit sooner than she would have liked. She still had no idea how to comfort the girl, so she was just going to wing it. Miley answered the door a couple minutes after Liv rang the doorbell, and Liv immediately wrapped her arms around the younger girl.

"I'm sorry, honey." she said softly. Miley just nodded against Liv's shoulder, unable to speak due to her throat tightening with her sadness. Olivia pulled back after a moment, leading Miley to the kitchen. Miley collapsed in a chair at the dining table as Liv put the coffee on, neither woman saying anything until they were both sitting down, steaming mugs in hand.

"Are you ok?" Liv asked hesitantly. Miley shrugged.

"What do you think?" she asked a little cynically. "I mean, I finally have what I've been wanting for the past few months, and then it was just taken away from me...like that." she snapped her fingers for emphasis.

"It'll happen, I know it." Olivia said gently. "It just wasn't your time."

"That's what Nick keeps saying." Miley said, giving a humorless laugh. She suddenly grabbed Liv's left hand, inspecting the engagement ring Joe had given her. "If you get pregnant before me, I'll kill you." she said, only half kidding.

Olivia didn't mention that the way the plans were going, they'd be on their deathbeds before they got married. Instead she gave a light laugh, knowing how upset Miley was. "I still need to get married," she said. "and even after that, I'm not sure how quickly I want kids."

"But you'll have the option at least. I've got a broken uterus or something." Miley mumbled into her coffee.

Liv sipped her coffee, not saying anything in response. Truth be told, she didn't know how to respond, and her cluttered mind had slipped back to wedding plans. She needed to start looking for a dress soon...

"Um, so," Miley said, interrupting her musings. "how are the wedding plans coming?"

"They're fine." Liv said, laughing. "Joe's getting a little too involved, if you ask me."

Miley smiled, nodding for her to continue.

Liv spoke again. "He told me the other day that we should put cartoon characters on top of the cake - he could be Batman and I'd be Catwoman. Don't worry, I shot that down pretty quick." she said after Miley perked an eyebrow. Miley gave a small laugh, but Liv could tell that it was forced.

"Anyway," she said after a moment of awkward silence. "I should probably head out - I've got an appointment in a little while. Is Nick going to be home soon?" In reality, the only appointment she had was sitting with Joe and going over wedding plans, but there was so much on her mind that she just couldn't handle having to take care of Miley right now.

"He's at the studio right now, but he's going to try to be home in a few hours." Miley said. Liv cursed inside - that meant Joe would be there too, so she was going to enjoy the afternoon by herself.

"Well, I'm glad he'll be around at least." she said. "Just call me if you need anything, ok?" she finished. Miley nodded, walking with her to the front door. "Just take it easy today, Miles." she said, giving the girl a comforting hug.

"I will. Thanks for coming, Liv." Miley said into Liv's shoulder. Olivia gave her one more encouraging smile before heading out, driving back to her apartment to try and get a little bit of wedding planning done. She was proud of herself - she had actually made an appointment with the bakery to taste the cakes, she had set up an appointment with her mother to go try on wedding dresses, and the old men she worked with finally deemed her good enough to do her own work!

About a month later, Olivia was on her way to work when Joe called.

"Hello there!" she answered, a smile already on her face.

"Hi hot stuff." Joe answered, making her roll her eyes.

"What's up?" she asked, laughing at him.

"Well, what time are we supposed to go and eat cake next week?" he asked. She paused, eyeing the phone suspiciously.

"Two o'clock in the afternoon." she said slowly. He exhaled.

"Do you think there's any way we can change it? We got a call today saying that PopRocks Magazine wants to do an interview..." he said hesitantly.

"Oh darn," Liv said sarcastically. "I guess I'll have to go and eat all that cake by myself. Woe is me."

"Oh nu uh!" Joe responded. "One - we agreed that if there's cake involved, ever, we share. I want to get some chocolate action on! B - they want to interview you too!"

"We can't have chocolate cake, honey. And why would they want to interview me?" she said.

"What do you mean we can't have chocolate?!" Joe said, appalled.

"Dear, I'm going to be in a white dress, and you know that I'm not exactly the...cleanest eater around."

"Yea, you tend to make a mess." he said semi-seriously. She laughed.

"Shut up!" she said jokingly. "Don't judge me!"

"You know I won't ever judge you ever." he said, feaux tiredly. "But seriously, why can't we have chocolate?"

"No chocolate, Joe." she said, holding back her laughter.

"But Oliiiiviaaaaa, we have to have chocolate!" he whined.

"I'll think about it." she said.

"That's code for 'no'!" he said.

Liv laughed. "Ok, good, you've already learned. Now, why does PopRocks want to interview me?" she asked.

"Oh, it's like a special thing that they're doing on us, cause we're all in different walks in relationship life or whatever. You know, cause Kevin's married with a kid, Nick's just married, and I'm getting married..." he explained. "Apparently it's going to be this really long, intense thing."

"Hmm, sounds interesting." Olivia said. "I guess I can take off work then."

"Great! I'm supposed to tell you to...oh crap, what was it..." he muttered to himself. Olivia rolled her eyes again, smiling - she knew he'd get it in a second.

"OH!" he almost yelled, clearly remembering. "I was supposed to tell you to bring your own outfit or whatever, but that they'll do your hair and makeup."

"I have to pick my own clothes for this?" she asked incredulously. "Wait...why am I picking wardrobe?"

"For the photo shoot, duuuuh." Joe drawled. Olivia shook her head.

"Ok, I suppose I'll find something." she said, more to herself than Joe.

"Wear the white dress you had on when we got engaged." Joe suggested. And by "suggested," I mean "told."

"That one? Are you sure?" she asked, hesitant.

"I'm positive! Do it!" he said excitedly. She laughed again.

"Ok, white one it is then." she agreed. He wooped in victory. "Anyway, hun, I've gotta jet now - I'll talk to you later?"

"Of course! I love you!" he said.

"Love you too!" she responded, smiling as she hung up the phone. She shook her head, marvelling at the life that she got sometimes just by being associated with the Jonas Brothers. She called the bakery, requesting to change the date - it wasn't a problem, considering who was getting married.

The photo shoot was a blast - Miley, Liv, and Jess all certainly enjoyed poking fun at the brothers, who insisted that they needed the 007 theme song playing while they shot. The interview went well also, and they were all excited to see it when it would come out in a couple weeks. Meanwhile, there were still wedding plans to be made.

"So Kevin told me that I'm supposed to keep you happy and not argue about this whole chocolate issue." Joe said, smiling as they made their way over to the bakery.

"Kevin's a very smart individual." Olivia said, nodding appreciatively. She laughed when Joe looked at her with a face that personified heartbreak.

"But...chocolate..." was all he said. She shook her head, smiling.

"How about this," she started. "your groom's cake can be chocolate."

"Really?!" he asked. "SCORE!" Liv rolled her eyes, smiling at how such a small detail like cake flavor could make him so happy. They arrived at the bakery a few minutes later and were led to a back room separate from the main room, enabling them to do what they needed to do without being interrupted by screaming fans or the paparazzi. Olivia was a little hesitant to do this - after all, there's no telling what could happen after Joe had that much sugar.

"This is so super good!" he exclaimed after eating half his plate of samples. Olivia laughed at him.

"Did you even taste them?" she asked.

"Yes. They were delicious." he said, smiling broadly. "Kind of like this!" he added, leaning over and kissing her. She smiled into the kiss.

"Your lips taste like frosting." she said when he pulled away.

"Cause I'm so sweet!" he said. Olivia rolled her eyes, grabbing a piece of cake and stuffing it on his face.

"So sweet." she said, smiling. He licked off a part of the cake.

"Hmm, I really like this one." he said seriously.

"For real?" she asked, perking an eyebrow.

"For rizzle L-vizzle." he said with a definite nod. She got a piece off of his face and tasted it.

"Oh, that is good." she agreed. "Which one is it?"

"As if I would know, silly." Joe said, shaking his head. She smiled and took another bite, thinking.

"I think it's...aw heck I don't know either." she replied, laughing. They called the baker, Jackie, in to ask. She grabbed the remaining piece - which was nearly a crumb - and popped into her mouth. She hummed quietly in thought.

"Definitely French vanilla frisk with pina colada frosting." she said after a moment.

"It's not alcoholic, is it?" Liv ask, not even flinching that they both liked such an odd combination.

"No, not at all." Jackie said, leaving them to finish their tasting. Joe looked at Liv oddly.

"We're all over 21 you know." he said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"I'm thinking of Tyler - poor kid's like 12 or something." she said, shrugging. Joe thought about it for a second before nodding in agreement.

"Sounds reasonable enough." he said, taking a bite of another sample. He shook his head. "I think I've got my favorite."

Olivia followed his example, tasting another piece of cake. She shook her head as well. "Me too."

"Wait, does this mean that we actually came to a decision on something?!" Joe exclaimed. Liv's eyes widened.

"We even agreed on it, no less!" she replied, giving him a high five.

"Excellent, we've soooo got it now!" he said. They called Jackie back in, telling her the order and the date, their moods light and hearts high. They exited the bakery hand in hand, walking down the boardwalk in the warm California sunshine and talking. Suddenly, Liv came to a dead stop, her hand pulling back on Joe, who would not have otherwise realized for another couple seconds.

"What is it?" he asked, concerned. "Did you forget something?"

"No...well, kind of." she said quietly. Her eyes began to glisten a little bit, but no tears fell. In fact, Joe couldn't ever remember seeing her truly cry.

"What's the matter, muffin?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders and attempting to pull her eyes up to his. She looked up at him, her eyes reflecting her pain. She swallowed, taking a deep breath.

"It's just..." she stopped for a second, composing herself. The glisten was gone, but he could tell her heart was hurting. "Who's going to give me away at our wedding?"

Joe felt as if time had stopped. He was surprised that the fact that Liv's father would not be there to give her away had never crossed either of their minds. He quickly pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. Her arms were placed loosely around him, the rest of her left unmoving as he gently rubbed her back, trying to heal her hurting heart.

--

About a month after the interview and photoshoot, Olivia was sitting in her apartment, minding her own business and reading a book. All of a sudden, she heard the key in the lock, and Joe practically sprinted in, leaping over the arm of the couch and landing next to her.

"Well hello to you too." she said, perking an eyebrow and smiling.

"IT'S HERE." he said quickly, holding out a magazine.

"What is?" she asked, taking it from him. He didn't need to answer since she spotted the cover. There were all three of the Jonas Brothers and their significant others, as well as little baby Maddie. Joe quickly flipped it to the page and they began reading.

_The Jonas Brothers were first noticed with their debut album "It's About Time," and hit the big time with their self-titled sophomore album. At that time, the three brothers were still in their younger years, Kevin turning 20 years old in 2007. Despite rumors throughout the years that the boys were dating other celebrities (such as Nick Jonas' "secret" relationship with Hannah Montana), they kept their relationships separate from the prying eyes of the public. Now two brothers are married, one of them with a child, and the final brother is engaged to be married in the spring. PopRocks got an interview with the pop trio, and got the inside scoop on life, love, and keeping relationships strong._

"'Life, love, and keeping relationships strong'?" Olivia asked, laughing a little bit.

"I mean, it may be a little cheesy...but whatever! Skip to our part!" Joe said, shaking the magazine. Liv flipped past Nick and Miley's spread to theirs. It was odd to see her own face in a magazine - all three brothers were very adamant about the paparazzi leaving their significant others alone. The biggest picture was of the two of them (clearly), Liv was behind Joe, her arms around his shoulders and her cheek next to his. There were a couple of candid shots around it - like one of the two of them laughing while Liv was getting her hair done and one where they were talking on a couch, their hands intertwined. Liv skipped over to the interview section.

_PR asks: How did you two meet?  
(Joe and Olivia both smile) "Well," Joe starts, "we actually met because I spilled my entire cup of coffee on her." Olivia laughs at the memory. "It was quite graceful, really." she adds. "Although I swear I smelled like caramel macchiato for the next week or so."_

_PR asks: Olivia, what was it like to date someone famous?  
"It honestly wasn't that big a thing." Olivia says. "I mean, we would hang out and have a good time just being with each other, it never really had much to do with fame. Although I did get some sweet tickets to concerts!"_

_PR asks: Joe, did you ever think that you were going to fall in love with a "normal person?  
"If you mean 'normal' as in 'not famous,' it wasn't ever something I thought about. I was just hoping to find someone that was friendly and fun and would laugh at my jokes. It never really mattered to me if she was famous or not. Actually, unfamous is almost better - I've seen some of those 'famous' girls at parties, and let me tell you, it is not pretty." he says. Olivia makes a face when he says this. "They're really not." she adds, and they laugh._

_PR asks: How do you manage to keep a relationship whenever you're separated for long periods of time?  
"It's really difficult, let me tell you." Olivia says, her eyes wide. "But if it's someone that you know is really special, then it's totally worth it." she finishes. "I agree," adds Joe. "It's lots of work, but when it's all said and done, you find that it was so worth the wait. The ends justify the means, if you will."_

_PR asks: Is it difficult to plan a wedding while both of you are working?  
(Joe and Olivia both burst into laughter) "It's probably the most difficult thing I've ever had to do, ever!" Joe says. "We're like, calling each other on the way to work and everything, going 'ok, so did you call the baker?' 'Yes, I called the baker.' 'And you set up an appointment?' 'No, we just had a nice chat and I hung up.' 'Hey, there's no need to sass me this early in the morning!'-" Joe is interruped by Olivia. "I think they get the picture, hon." she says, laughing at him. "But he's right - I mean, I've got wedding stuff in the car, in my desk, in my purse, all over the place, just trying to get it all done!"_

_PR asks: Are there any plans for little Jonases yet?  
(Joe and Olivia both look at each other, an identical look on their face) "Well," Olivia says. "I think I can speak for us both when I say that we need to just get married first - start at square one."_

_PR asks: Joe, are you going to perform at your own wedding?  
"No." he says, and they both laugh. "I'll let someone else do it for once."_

_PR asks: So, who wears the pants in the relationship?  
"Today? Me." Joe says, gesturing to the pants he is wearing. Olivia chimes in. "Yea, today I'm wearing a skirt, but who knows about tomorrow!"_

_PR asks: No, seriously, who wears them?  
"I think we share the pants." Olivia says, turning to Joe. He nods in agreement, pursing his lips in thought. "But sometimes you steal the pants from me." he says. Olivia rolls her eyes, smiling. "Ok, that was one time, and they were pajama pants! You can't seriously still be on that!" she says, looking at him. He looks the other direction, hiding a smile. "No comment." he says._

_PR asks: So, where are these mysterious pajama pants?  
"Where they rightfully belong." Olivia says with a definite nod. Joe looks shocked. "They do not rightfully belong in your dresser!"_

_PR asks: Ok, looks like we're out of time. Any last words?  
"Don't do drugs." Olivia says. "Yea," Joe agrees. "And don't attempt to catch a pidgeon in New York City by placing bread all around you." When the interviewer gives them a strange look, Olivia shakes her head. "Don't ask. Random experiment."_

"Aw, that was pretty good!" Olivia said. "Plus, you look quite attractive in this picture."

"Yes indeed I do!" Joe said, taking the magazine. "Who knows how an individual could be so beautiful?"

"Oh yea, it should be illegal how hot you are." Liv said sarcastically, taking the magazine back. "Now let's focus a little bit - we've still got a lot of planning to do."

X-X-X-X-X

ok, so i'm not too excited about how i ended this one, but whatever. also sad cause i didn't get to use any allusions, which are by far my favorite literary device. so sad.

anyway, if you've got any ideas, send them my way! leave love, peace out y'all!


	12. Going to the Chapel

thanks for all the love, y'all! you all rock! 

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 12: Going to the Chapel

Liv knew as soon as Miley called her that there was going to be good news.

"Hey! I need you and Joe to come to dinner tomorrow night!" she had said excitedly. Liv laughed.

"Ok, I'm free and I assume he is. May I ask the occasion?" she said.

"Well...ok no, I can't tell you yet. But trust me, it's good stuff!" Miley insisted.

"Alright, we'll be there tomorrow." Liv replied.

She had gotten herself (and Joe) together, making it over there just in time. Dinner was slow and tedious, as everyone there knew that something was going on. Finally, after waiting for a painfully long time, Miley and Nick stood up.

"Ok, so we've asked you all to come here because we have some really good news." Nick said. He tried to pause for dramatic effect - but Miley was too excited.

"I'm pregnant!" she exclaimed, bouncing on her toes in excitement. The energy was passed around the table, everyone excited for the two. There were exclamations around the table as the group rushed up to hug them.

"Dang, looks like we need to catch up." Joe told Liv, winking and nudging her with his elbow.

"Uh...no we don't." Liv said, laughing. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head in a way that said "fiiiine." Olivia left him for a moment, going to give Miley a huge hug.

"See? I told you it would happen eventually." she said quietly in Miley's ear.

"Thanks so much for...taking care of me. Being there and all." Miley whispered back.

"Anytime." Olivia answered, giving her a final squeeze and going back to Joe while the others congratulated her.

A couple days later, the happy mood was shot as the brothers found out that their tour would be in the spring - right after the wedding, and right in the middle of Miley's pregnancy.

"I'm not saying I don't want you to go, I'm just saying I don't like that you're going." Olivia said, frustrated. She was pacing around her apartment in agitation.

"And you think I want to go?" Joe said from where he was sitting on the couch. "I mean, it wasn't my idea to have the freaking tour two weeks after we get married."

"I know it wasn't." she sighed, running her hand through her hair. She stopped pacing. "And there's absolutely no way to change any of it?" she asked quietly. Joe shook his head.

"I tried, but the dates are already set." Joe said, rubbing his face with his hands. "And you know I would change it if there was any way that I could, but Kevin is pretty adamant that I have to suck it up."

"Yea, I know." Liv said softly, dropping down beside him. "It's just...we can't seem to catch a break, you know? We're always getting torn apart by something."

"I know what you mean." he said, intertwining their fingers. "But the ends'll justify the means, yea?"

"I'm not sure that applies here, hon." Liv said, cocking her head to the side in thought.

"Well whatever. Either way, in a few months we're gonna be married, regardless!" he said excitedly. Liv smiled - he always knew how to cheer her up. "Plus, we've got two whole weeks to do whatever we want." his waggled his eyebrows suggestively. She laughed at the facial expression.

"At least one week for sure." she said. "Not to put a damper on your plans or anything."

"Nope, you've got two weeks! I called your boss and pulled a few strings." Joe said, looking quite pleased with himself. Liv looked at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"What did you do? I still have a job, right?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh ye of little faith." Joe said, waving her off. "Let's just say that someone's granddaughter somewhere has some very good tickets to a concert. And perhaps an autograph."

Liv smiled, her heart bursting with happiness. She kissed him quickly. "I knew there was a reason I was marrying you." she said.

"Oh, you mean it wasn't for my manly charm and irresistable body?" he asked.

"Those don't hurt." she said, still smiling. Happy was the only word that could be used to describe her right now - I mean, how many couples still flirt with each other after being together for what seemed like forever?

"That's what I thought." Joe said, pushing her over so that they were laying on the couch. He wrapped his arms around her waist, using her chest as a pillow. "Now, let's take a nap." he said, readjusting his head on his "pillow" again. Liv laughed, trying to push his head away. He held on, steadfast.

"C'mon, Joe, we've still got a little bit of planning to do." she said, trying to get him off. His brow furrowed.

"Seriously? We haven't got the whole dern thing done yet?" he asked.

"We're almost done, I promise." she replied. He sighed, consenting and getting up.

"Fiiiiine." he groaned. "Bring it on." he added. Liv smiled, dropping a huge book of fabrics on the coffee table, which shook ominously. Joe stared at the book, his jaw slack.

"That's what I thought." Liv said, smiling.

A couple weeks later, Olivia was at work when Joe called her.

"Oh my gosh!" he said excitedly. "Guess what?"

"Honey, you know I don't do guessing games." Olivia said, teasing. He sighed dramatically.

"Fine, I mean, if you don't want to know..." he said.

"You know I want to know." she said shortly. "Now, what is it?"

"I've found us a house!" he exclaimed, almost yelling in his excitement.

"Really?" she asked, her hopes rising.

"Yes!" he insisted. "And it's like, the embodiment of perfection!"

"'Embodiment of perfection'? Goodness gracious!" she said, laughing.

"Yes! Now you have to come see it!" he said. "But you might want to hurry, cause I think my enthusiasm is scaring the realtor..."

"I wouldn't doubt it."

"Hey!"

"I love you!" she said quickly, her tone making it obvious that she was smiling.

"You're so making this up to me when you get here." he said darkly.

"I'm ok with that. Now, where are you?..." she asked. Joe gave her quick directions, and Olivia made a few phone calls so that she could take off the rest of the day. She drove over to the place he was, admiring the different houses. It wasn't a cookie-cutter neighborhood, which made her happy. She spotted the house that Joe had described, smiling immediately. It was relatively big, with white paneling and a big red door.

"Aw, it's cute!" she said, walking in the Big Red Front Door and greeting Joe with a kiss.

"It's well structured too." the realtor said with a cheesy smile. She led Joe and Olivia around the house once more so that Olivia could see it, emphasizing all the great points of it ("Look how many windows are in this room! And see, there's so much closet space..."). By the time they had finished their tour, Olivia was more than convinced.

"Good job, hun." Olivia said, giving Joe a high five. "You picked out a good one!"

"Shall I draw up the paper work then?" the realtor asked, looking a little more than excited. Olivia and Joe looked at each other, having a short telepathic conversation before turning back to her.

"Go for it!" Joe said, happily kissing Olivia as the realtor flitted away.

--

The remaining months flew by, and before Liv knew it, she was getting ready to get married. Miley quickly slipped in after checking with Nick and making sure that Joe was getting ready.

"Ok, ready for hair and makeup?" Miley asked, and Liv nodded. Miley gestured for Molly, Liv's brother's wife, to come and help.

"Sorry my mom's being completely useless." Liv whispered quietly. Linda was merely sitting in a chair off to the side, taking in the fact that her only daughter was getting married away today.

"I am not completely useless!" Linda said, trying to give a dark look. It turned out happy, no matter what she did.

"Mom, you've been sitting there reminiscing the entire time." Olivia said as Molly began gathering her feathery blonde hair.

"It's true." Molly said, making her reddish curls bounce as she nodded. Linda sighed, sitting back in her chair.

"Well, would you rather me be buzzing around trying to make everything absolutely perfect?" Linda asked, smiling. Liv laughed.

"I suppose not." she said. Miley grabbed Liv's chin suddenly, brandishing the makeup brush like a sword.

"Stop moving, unless you want to look like a clown on crack!" she said. Liv immediately quieted, allowing the two girls to make her perfect.

"Have you seen Joe? Is he okay?" she asked Miley.

"Nick said that Joe was practically dressed and insisting they have a rap-off before things got rolling." Miley said. Liv smiled, barely holding in the urge to shake her head.

"Sounds like Joe." she said, a loving tone in her voice. Miley and Molly smiled softly - it was great to see such pure love. "Oh, before I forget, I need you to take this to him..." Liv added, pausing the preparation to fish out a small box.

One floor up and three doors down, the Jonas boys were getting ready in a separate hotel room. Well, mentally at least.

"Nick. Beat." Joe said, gesturing to his brother. Nick gave a single nod, and began to throw down a beat for his brother. Mrs. Jonas shook her head, muttering something about checking on the catering before leaving.

"Oh, go Joe, go Joe, go Joe." Kevin said, and began to add in a baseline.

"I'm looking sharp, gonna hear a harp, as I walk down the aisle." Joe rapped. "My lady's waiting, so long we've been dating, since the first time I dialed...her number. Uh, oh, yea...Peace."

"YEA-YUH!" Kevin and Nick yelled, high fiving their brother. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Joe let out a girlish scream, earning odd looks from his brother.

"Don't judge me." Joe said, turning away and sitting down. Nick went to the door, opening it and spotting Miley on the other side.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked, giving her a kiss.

"MILEY!" Joe leaped up, rushing to the door. "How's Liv? Is she okay? She isn't freaking out or anything, is she? Cause I mean, I'm not-"

"Joe, shut up." Miley said good naturedly. "Liv is completely fine and looking so beautiful. She wanted me to come and give this to you." she said, handing him the small box. He took it carefully.

"Thanks, Miles!" he said, turning back into the room and going off to the side to open it up by himself.

"No problem. Ok, so I better get back to helping her - be good." she said, giving Nick a kiss and turning to leave.

"Bye, dear." Nick said to her retreating back. He turned back to Joe, who was suddenly very subdued. "What'd she give him?" he asked Kevin.

"No idea." Kevin said. "He hasn't moved the entire time."

Nick creeped over to his brother as if he were approaching a wild animal. He quickly poked Joe in the shoulder, stepping back a few paces immediately. Joe didn't move.

"Dude," Nick said. "What could possibly have you so enraptured?"

Joe wordlessly handed over a piece of stationary where Liv's neat, loopy writing could be spotted. He played with a small silver object while Nick and Kevin crowded over the paper.

_Love is patient, love is kind.  
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.  
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  
Love never fails._

_I love you. - Liv_

"Whoa, that's intense." Kevin said after reading over Nick's shoulder. They looked to Joe, who was still playing with something small. Upon closer inspection, they realized that he was holding her silver ring that she always had on.

"Is that hers?" Nick asked. Joe nodded, squinting his eyes.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Kevin asked, considering how odd Joe looked.

"It's got an inscription and I can't read it!" Joe said. "Gah, I hate being blind!"

"Let me see it." Kevin said, holding out his hand. Joe slowly handed the ring over, and Kevin lifted it to eye level, looking closely. "It says...'True love waits.' Good stuff." Kevin said, handing the ring back to Joe, who did the sort of dance that you do when you have too much energy to stand still.

"My wife SO rocks!" he said, still moving. Kevin and Nick shook their heads at him, just glad that he was so excited. Soon enough, Mr. Jonas came into the room.

"Sons?" he said, gathering attention. "It's go time."

One floor down and three doors up, Molly and Miley were trying to put the finishing touches on Olivia, who was having quite a lot of trouble sitting still.

"Olivia! Please God I'm begging you..." Molly said, trying to put the finishing touches on the elegant bun that Liv's hair had been contorted into.

"I'm sorry!" Olivia exclaimed. "I'm just so excited!"

"Save it for tonight, darlin'." Miley said, giving her a wink. Olivia looked at her, open mouthed.

"I think that's the first dirty thing I've ever heard you say. Ever."

"It is not!" Miley objected, stepping back to admire her work.

"It is too." Olivia insisted.

"Girl, please. You've heard me talk dirty before." Miley sighed, touching up a bit on the eyes.

"Ok," Molly interrupted. "this conversation is quickly heading toward some awkward territory."

"My bad." Olivia said. "Are you done yet?"

"Turkeys are done, people are finished."

"Are you finished yet?"

"Yes, I am."

"That's what I thought." Liv said, getting up and putting the veil on. Molly, Miley, and Linda all sighed.

"You're really a bride now." Molly said quietly, hugging her sister-in-law. She then turned to Miley. "I'm going to go get Chris now - will you go make sure Nick and them are on their way out there?" she said, sensing that Linda wanted a moment alone with her daughter. Miley nodded, sensing it as well, and the two women left Linda and Olivia alone.

"Well, this is it, Mom." Olivia whispered quietly, taking her mom's hands. Linda nodded, her eyes starting to water.

"Your father would be so proud of you right now." she said shakily, the tears spilling over onto her pale cheeks.

"Oh, Mom, don't cry." Olivia said, wrapping her arms around her mother. Her mother took a shaky breath to steady herself.

"I don't mean to, it's just...I wish he could see you now." Linda said, sighing. She held Liv at arm's length, looking over her once more. "You look absolutely beautiful."

"Thanks, Mom." Olivia said, blushing. There was a knock at the door.

"Are you decent?" came Chris's voice through the wood.

"Yes!" Liv called back, rolling her eyes and hugging her mother once more. Chris opened the door, poking his head in.

"You ready to go?" he asked, smiling brightly.

"I was born ready, bro." she said, returning his smile.

--

The wedding and wedding supper went off without a hitch - alright, so there might have been a minor hitch or two, but considering the grace of the two getting married, it went off relatively without a hitch. After everyone had finished eating, Nick decided to start the toasts, just as Joe had done at his wedding.

"What can I say about these two?" he said. "I remember when Joe first told us about Olivia - he was so nervous then. And I'm proud to say that he hasn't really gotten over it, but she has, so it's ok. Happy times to the both of you." he finished, raising his glass and passing the baton on to Kevin.

"All I can say is...good luck, Olivia. Cheers." he said, earning a laugh from the group. Joe pouted at the fact that even Liv was laughing - wasn't she supposed to be on his side now? She kissed his cheek, bringing his smile back. It went around the table, skipping a few people (and cutting a crying Mrs. Haddocks short). The last person was Tyler, who looked rather uncomfortable as he stood up.

"Well..." he started. "Thanks for everything Olivia. And Joe, I'm sorry I threw a can of pineapple at your head that one time." he said, sitting back down quickly. Joe laughed, recalling the memory fondly. Olivia put one hand over her face, laughing as well. A few moments later, the cake was cut (Liv adamantly insists that Joe started the cake fight), and the couple shared their first dance (Mr. Jonas stepped in for the father-daughter dance, insisting that since she was now legally his daughter, it would only be right). The dancing afterwards was a little more on the exciting side than Nick and Miley's - but it's not Liv or Joe's fault that Ricky Martin was chosen over the slower rhythm music that Nick and Miley had chosen.

"Welcome to the family, darling." Mrs. Jonas said, coming up and giving Liv a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks! I'm super excited about it!" Liv replied, hugging the woman tightly. Mrs. Jonas beckoned her a little closer.

"And just so you know, don't ever let Joseph cook unless he gets some lessons...you don't want to know the story." she whispered conspiratorily. Liv smiled, nodding.

"Good to know. Thank you." she whispered back just as Joe interrupted.

"What are you two whispering about?" he asked skeptically.

"Nothing dear." they both said at the same time. He looked at them for a moment longer before shrugging and turning to his brothers (plus wives), who had come to formally congratulate them.

"Joe, my man!" Kevin said, giving his brother a hug as Nick went to Olivia. The two boys talked animatedly with excitement.

"I think we're gonna head out - Miley's not feeling great." Nick said quietly to Olivia with an apologetic look. She nodded in agreement.

"Ok, that's cool." she said, waving it off. She turned to Miley. "Go home, babe, and take care of yourself." she said, giving her a hug.

"Thanks, Liv. And congratulations again." Miley said, mustering up some enthusiasm. Liv smiled an understanding smile, rubbing Miley's arm before moving on to Kevin.

"Word of advice - don't ever eat anything Joe cooked unless it came out of a pop-tart box." he said. Liv laughed as Jess nodded energetically.

"So I've been hearing. Should I ask?" Olivia asked. Kevin shook his head.

"All you need to know is that it didn't end well." Kevin said, giving his new sister-in-law a hug. When Olivia went to hug Jess, Joe came up.

"Jeeessss let me have my wiiiiife." he whined. Olivia rolled her eyes, hugging Jess anyway.

"You can wait for a couple seconds, goodness." Jess said, hugging the younger woman and holding on just a few seconds longer than normal, just to teach Joe a lesson. Needless to say, he was pouting by the time they finally let go.

The party continued into the night, but it reached a certain point where Joe and Olivia were ready for everyone to leave. Luckily that point was the point where the guests were beginning to tire out, so the party disbanded. Once they told all the guests goodbye, they were able to collapse in a limo and go home - their home. The moment they were out of the car and the limo drove off, Joe swept Liv up into his arms.

"Over the threshold!" he said gallantly as Olivia laughed. He turned his face toward her, looking at her with a mock-serious face. "And just what are you laughing at, young lady?"

"Well, for one, you act like going over the threshold is going to be some epic adventure." she said.

"Well it is." Joe said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Olivia rolled her eyes, smiling.

"Ok, and beyond that 13 year old boy moment...I was once told that a prerequisite for any guy to marry me was that he had to be able to pick me up." she said, laughing at his odd facial expression.

"Who on earth told you that?" Joe asked incredulously.

"Doesn't matter, we're at the door!" she said, reaching down to open it for him. Joe smiled, kissing her for the millionth time that night before stepping into their new home. He lowered her to the ground with finesse and flourish, spreading his arms out and spinning in the open area of the entrance hall.

"Lucy, I'm home!" he said. Liv placed her hands on her hips, pretending to look offended.

"Who's Lucy?" she asked, perking an eyebrow. However, she was too happy to contain a smile.

"You are, m'dear!" Joe said, giving her another kiss. "Now, it's pretty late. I think we should go to bed now."

Olivia pretended to yawn and stretch. "I agree." she said, leading him up to the master bedroom. She loosened his tie and unbuttoned a few buttons of his shirt, kissing him slowly. "Now," she said, pulling back, earning a small pout from Joe. She released her hair from its hold, shaking the soft blonde curls over her shoulders. "I'm going to need a little bit of help with this dress. Could you perhaps offer me some assistance?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"But of course. Wouldn't want to abandon a lady in need of assistance." Joe said as he slowly began to unbutton the back of her dress.

The next morning, the pair left for their honeymoon, planning to be gone the entire two weeks before the tour was supposed to kick off. They spent their days getting tan and "enjoying" the "married life," not thinking of the two months they were going to be apart. When the day came, they were laid back about it, continuously muttering things like "it's only for two months" and "I'll call so much it's like I'm right there." All three girls were a little unhappy about the tour, but there was nothing they could to about it - this was the life they married into, and what the men they love loved. At one point, Miley was able to fly out to where they were, which was when Joe was able to escape to a back room and call Olivia, the other two brothers being distracted. She didn't answer the house phone, so he called her cell.

"Hello?" she answered quietly.

"Hi! Did I wake you up?" he asked, speaking quietly as well. He quickly did the math in his head - it was about 7 in the morning back in California.

"No, I just don't want to wake Jess or the baby up. Hold on, let me go outside." she said. He was quiet for a couple seconds, hearing a sliding door open and close. "Ok, we're good to go. How are you?" she asked with normal volume.

"Everything's great. How are you? Why are you over at Jess's?" he asked, concerned. "Are you ok?"

"I'm perfectly fine, I'm just not a huge fan of staying in the house by myself." she explained, settling on the picnic table in Kevin's backyard. "I've been pretty much staying with Miley, helping her out with the whole pregnancy thing, but since she's over there I'm here with Jess and helping with the baby." she added. Joe sighed.

"I'm sorry I can't be there with you." He said sadly.

"No, don't worry about it! It's your job, after all." Olivia said, but Joe could tell that she wasn't happy about it either. "I mean, you get back in a few weeks, so it's all good. Oh, how's Miley? She ok?"

"She's fine." he said shortly, not wanting to talk about his sister-in-law to his wife. She paused.

"You didn't do anything to her, did you?" Olivia asked slowly.

"No, no I didn't...I'm just mad cause she gets to be here and you don't. That's why I'm calling now - they're sitting in there being all lovey dovey and together and such, and I don't quite dig it right now." Joe said, spilling his feelings out.

"I understand." Olivia said quietly. "I'm sorry I can't come out to you." she said, as it was now her turn to feel guilty.

"Don't fret, honey bunches." Joe said, trying to lighten the heavy tone they had acquired. "I mean, we were separated for two years at one point. What's another few weeks?" he said. Olivia laughed softly. "Oh, come on, that was fake." he said accusingly. "Do I need to tell you a joke? I heard a good one the other day..."

"Oh for the love..." Olivia said in a way that let Joe know she was smiling.

"No seriously! Ok, so two peanuts walked into a bar...one was assaulted!" he said excitedly. Olivia paused on the other end of the line. Joe huffed. "Shut up! It was funny!"

"I didn't say anything. It was quite helarious." Olivia said, trying to hold in a laugh.

"Whatever, you didn't laugh! You...unlaugher!" he said, smiling as she continued to hold in her laughter. "That's it, as soon as I get home I'm challenging you to a tickle fight!"

"But tickle fights lead to sex!" she said, acting appalled.

"That's the whole point, my dear." he said, pretending to be seductive. She finally let out a small laugh just as the tour bus was slowed to a stop and Kevin called for him to get going. He sighed. "I'm sorry to cut this short," he said. "but I'm being summoned."

"Ok. Text me when you get out? I may still be awake." she answered.

"Right-o." he responded. "I love you."

"Love you to. Have a great show tonight!" she said. They exchanged goodbyes until another time, and began counting down the moments. The weeks slowly trickled by, seemingly taking years before they were finally able to come home. Joe had the limo safely speed home, practically running up the front steps to a waiting Olivia. Her excitement was clear on her face as she went to him, jumping and wrapping her arms and legs around him. He immediately started walking upstairs.

"What? No proper hello?" she asked, looking to him.

"We've got some major time to make up for, darlin'!" he said, kissing her as she laughed.

X-X-X-X-X

well, this one was a little tough, and i feel like it wasn't as good as it could have been. however, i'm a little uninspired - plus, i've got about zero time with AP classes and softball. fantastic.

as per usual, if you've got anything that you'd like for me to see, let me know! or tell me what you like! or you don't like! just leave some sort of love.

oh, and a mondo thank you goes out to ClaireBear536 (my self proclaimed partner in crime) for using the force of a few blunt objects (yea, you wish i was kidding!) to finish this sucker. thanks!

peace out!


	13. Maybe Baby?

thanks for all the love, y'all! here's one of the last few installments!

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 13: Maybe Baby?

"I still think it should be blue." Joe said adamantly.

"It should not be blue!" Olivia argued, laughing.

"I'm telling you, we should paint it blue!"

"Joseph, such a sunshin-y room should be yellow. You know, like the sun." she replied.

"Well, what if we're in there at night time? Should we paint it black then? Huh? Huh?" he said, raising his eyebrows. She laughed again, kissing him.

"Just trust me on this, babe. This room is yellow - we can paint the bathroom blue if you so wish." she said, picking out a few yellow swatches from the wall.

"Oh, can we make it a nautical theme?" he asked hopefully, looking like a small child asking for ice cream.

"Of course, dear." she said, patting his head. "Now, help me pick this out."

"Aren't we supposed to like...take it home or something? I remember my mom doing that a lot when she would do her painting all around the house..." Joe asked, looking as if he was thinking deeply.

"Well, I mean, we could..." Olivia said. "but that would require us going home, and then spending five minutes making a decision, and then coming back here. Besides, I've narrowed it down to 'Boston Creme' and 'Banana Pudding'."

"For desert?" Joe asked, confused. Either one sounded quite delectable to him!

"No, for the wall color!" Liv replied, laughing again.

"Oh. Well can we get desert after we pick a wall color? I'm hungry now." he said.

"And you say I eat like a 12 year old boy..." Olivia muttered. "Yes, we can get some desert when we've finished here."

"Ok, 'Banana Pudding' then." Joe said quickly.

"Really? Cause I kind of like the 'Boston Creme'..." Liv said, cocking her head to the side and looking at the paint colors.

"Ok, go for 'Boston Creme' then." he replied.

"But the 'Banana Pudding' has it's pros too." she said.

"I know - we should go for 'Dulce de Leche'. It's got a warmer tone to it." Joe said, pretending to be a suave interior designer. Liv cocked her head to the other side.

"You know, I think you might be right." she said, comparing the colors.

"Of course I'm right. Now let's go!" he said, tugging her hand and leading her to the counter. They ordered the paint and jetted back to the house (after a brief stop at Jackie's Bakery) in order to start the process.

"Let's paint!" Joe said, bounding into the room. It was going to be the "Music-Movie-Hang out-Room," as Joe dubbed it. It was an open room with large bay windows facing the east, allowing the room to flood with morning sunlight.

"Hold up, sparky, we've gotta put down the tape first." she said, holding up a large roll of bright blue tape.

"Where?" he sighed in submission, his shoulders slumping.

"Just around the floor molding. And the windows." Olivia said comfortingly, rubbing his shoulder.

"The windows?! How am I supposed to reach up that high?" he asked incredulously.

"I dunno." Liv said, shrugging. "Be creative."

Joe sat there, thinking for a moment. Olivia took her own roll of tape, putting some down where the molding met the wall. She stood up to survey her minimal work, trying to estimate how long it would take her to do the whole thing. Suddenly, Joe stuck his head in between her knees, lifting her up onto his shoulders.

"Ah! What are you doing?!" she shreiked, laughing and grabbing onto his forhead in an effort not to fall off.

"I'm getting creative. Now, here's your tape, and here's the window!" Joe replied, standing next to said window. Olivia laughed softly, shaking her head and complying with his wishes. A couple hours later, after a few tape wars and "breaks," the room was finally ready to be painted.

"It's already 8 o'clock. Do you think we should wait for tomorrow?" Olivia asked, eyeing the paint cans as she fixed her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. She adjusted a corner of the plastic protector they had placed over the wood floor.

"Psh no." Joe said quickly, brandishing a paint roller. "I say let's rock and roll!"

Liv laughed. "Alright, sounds good." she said, opening the first can and pouring out the warm, golden brown color. As soon as the painting commenced, however, it became apparent that it wasn't the only thing on their minds.

"Quit flicking paint on me!" Olivia whined.

"I'm not flicking paint on you, silly." Joe replied, touching the paint roller to Olivia's nose. Her jaw dropped as she looked at him, shocked.

"Now you got it on my face!" she said, laughing and flicking paint off her brush and onto his shirt.

"Gasp! You got it on my shirt!" he said, feigning shock.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" she asked, getting in his face, a smile playing on her lips.

"Hmm...this." he replied, rolling his paint roller across her chest. Olivia swiped her brush across his midrift. They began chasing each other across the room, the paint getting everywhere but on the walls. A few minutes later, they were at a standstill. Olivia had somehow managed to obtain both her brush and his roller, but Joe was next to the paint container. He smirked evilly, dipping his hand into the paint.

"What are you doing...?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing..." he replied, slowly walking towards her. She slowly began backing up, but soon hit the back wall.

"Don't do it, don't do it...Joseph Jonas, don't you dare do it." Olivia said, reaching a hand out to try and keep him away. He rushed her, wrapping one arm around her waist and planting the paint soaked hand strait on her butt. She screamed and laughed at the same time, unable to wriggle out of his grasp as the paint soaked into her jeans.

"Ha! Eat it!" he said, refusing to let her go for a couple moments. He soon released her from his grasp, making her stumble back a couple steps.

"You got paint on my pants!" she said, struggling to hold in laughter.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to take them off then. Can't go around with paint on your pants." he said, shrugging. She placed her hands on her hips, putting all her weight on one leg.

"Is that all you men can think about?" she asked, smiling.

"I'm just saying that we've got paint all over our clothes. The best idea is probably to take them off." he said. She wrinkled her nose.

"But I'm all gross." she said. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body flush with his and kissing her soundly.

Sometime around four in the morning, Olivia's sleep was interrupted by the phone ringing.

"Don't worry, I got it." she muttered in response to Joe's incoherent mumbling. A few minutes later, she woke him up by throwing a shirt at his face.

"Aaaah what?" he asked, sitting up.

"Miley's having the baby." Olivia said shortly, pulling on clothes. "Nick just called - they're at the hospital."

"Can't they just tell us what it is so we can sleep?" he whined.

"C'mon, you'd want them to be there if it were us." she responded in a knowing tone.

"Yea, but we'd have the decency not to have a baby at four in the morning!" he stated, finally getting out of bed and into some clothes. Neither one of them were morning persons, so the ride to the hospital was silent. It didn't help that they had gotten roughly three hours of sleep. They ambled into the waiting room where the rest of the family was waiting, muttering greetings as they collapsed into chairs. A few minutes after their arrival, Nick came stumbling into the waiting room.

"Please tell me she had it." Joe groaned.

"No, uh, she's only about 4.5 centimeters dilated." Nick responded.

"Then tell me she only has to go to 5?" he asked hopefully. Liv half-heartedly hit him with the back of her hand.

"Shh." she shushed him. She remembered when Tyler had been born, so she knew that Nick didn't need any added stress.

"What? We've been through this, it's four in the freakin' morning." he defended himself. Olivia shook her head, mustering up a half-smile at her husband's antics.

"Um...anyway," Nick said awkwardly. "I just wanted to come say hey...and thanks for coming. I know Miley appreciates it and all...and I should probably..."

"Just go back to her, son." Mr. Stewart said shortly. Nick nodded, preparing himself before going back into the room where Miley was being kept.

"Oh my God." Joe groaned. "Couldn't she have picked a better time? Like when it's light outside?"

"Shut up." Olivia groaned back. "She didn't choose to go into labor. Just...go back to sleep or something."

"Well if you insist..." he responded, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head on her chest.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking down at the top of his head in confusion.

"Following that one's lead." he replied, gesturing at Maddie, who was on Jess's lap and asleep on her chest. Kevin rolled his eyes, laughing at his brother's antics.

"I don't think it's as socially acceptable for you to do it though." she said, but wasn't making a move at all to make him get off.

"It's four in the morning. No one cares." he said, adjusting himself further before seemingly falling asleep. Olivia yawned and began playing with his hair.

"Good point." she said quietly, leaning her head back against the wall and attempting to gain a few more minutes of sleep as well. After a couple hours spent dozing off, Nick rushed into the room, a look of joy and delirium etched upon his face.

"Oh my God, it's a boy!" he said excitedly, startling Joe awake.

"Oh honey, that's so great!" Mrs. Jonas said, jumping up and hugging Nick tightly. "What's his name?"

"Noah Riley Nicholas Jonas." Nick said, grinning like a fool.

"Nice choice...and perfect number of names." Joe said, nodding seriously.

"Well, it was Miley's idea, but it really suits him perfectly." Nick explained.

"Can we see him?" Liv asked, more bright-eyed now that the hour was more reasonable.

"Yea, but seriously only a few people at a time." Nick said, looking pointedly at Joe. "Not like last time we were here when someone barged in. I think one of the nurses was eyeing you suspiciously."

"As if it's my fault I get excited when I become an uncle." Joe said, waving it off.

"Sweetheart, how about I go back with Jess and Olivia, and I promise you can come back in a few minutes."

Joe thought for a moment before shrugging. "I can't make any promises." he said lightly. Mrs. Jonas followed Nick back to where Miley was, Jess and Olivia following her.

"Hey, honey, how are you?" Mrs. Jonas asked, coming and placing a kiss on Miley's forehead.

"I'm doing alright now. It was a litte rough for a while there, but it all evened out in the end." she said, laughing.

"And look at this little thing." Olivia said as she and Jess cooed over the baby. "Little piece of perfection!"

"He is quite adorable, I have to say." Jess agreed.

"Well, when you have such attractive parents as us, it's inevitable." Nick said, pretending to be all stuck up. The women could tell how proud he was though - both of himself and his wife. "Honestly, I'm just so excited he's here now."

"Me too. I can't quite believe it - here's this little thing that I've been carrying for what seems like forever, and now woosh! He's here!" Miley said.

"I know what you mean." Jess said, sighing. "When Maddie was born, I couldn't stop counting all her fingers and toes, just to make sure that they were all there." she said. They all looked to Liv, smiling conspiratorily.

"Don't look at me. I ain't quite ready to give this up yet." she said, gesturing to her body. The others laughed, turning back to the baby.

"I just...I can't get over it." Miley said softly.

While they were in there cooing over the baby, the men stayed awkwardly in the waiting room.

"Dude, I'm tired of waiting." Joe said, standing up.

"Joe, it's been like two minutes." Kevin said as Robbie Ray and Mr. Jonas looked at each other, shaking their heads.

"Well that's like three minutes too long. C'mon, Kev!" Joe whined. Kevin sighed, knowing it would only go downhill from here.

"Fine. But we're going to be quiet, ok?" Kevin agreed.

"Aye aye, captain!" Joe whispered, saluting his older brother. He then began sleuthing down the hospital hallway, looking like he was taking part in a bad spy TV show. Kevin, Mr. Stewart and Mr. Jonas just shook their heads at the guy, following after him quietly. Joe reached the room first, softly knocking on the door and poking his head in.

"I tiptoed this time!" he whispered, earning smiles from the female audience inside.

"Good job!" Nick whispered back, giving him a thumbs up. The guys filed in, allowing Mr. Stewart to have a minute "alone" with his daughter. After a few minutes, there was a pause, and Joe was able to go to the bedside and see his nephew.

"Stud muffin. Nice work." he said approvingly to Nick and Miley.

"I know, right? I mean, I'm holding a future heartbreaker right here, aren't I?" she said, cooing to the baby.

"I can so teach him the tricks of the trade." Joe said, a smug look on his face. Olivia turned to him, arching an eyebrow. "Not that I'm part of that trade anymore...but hey, it won you over, didn't it?"

"Barely." she said shortly, not trying to hide her smile.

"What can I say, Jonas men have a history of being playas before settling down." Joe responded, popping his collar.

"Yea...no we don't." Nick and Kevin both said at the same time. Joe sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, I guess I'm the only one who had enough game to be a playa." he shrugged.

"Joe, I love you, but you're never going to be alone with my child without a responsible adult present." Miley said, laughing at her brother-in-law.

"Eh, I can deal with that I suppose." he said, shrugging. He leaned over to give Miley a hug and Noah a quick kiss on the head. "You and me, little buddy, we're going to be BFF's!" he whispered excitingly, crossing his fingers to show how close they were going to be.

"C'mon, hon, Miley needs some rest." Olivia said quietly, lacing her fingers with Joe's and gently tugging him away from the baby. Little did she know...

Later that night, Joe flipped over in bed, suddenly facing his wife.

"Let's have a baby." he said decisively. Olivia opened one bleary eye to look at him.

"In general, or in the near future?" she asked.

"Eh, near future." Joe said, nodding.

"How near?" she questioned skeptically.

"Oh, I'd guess...about nine months from now?" he suggested.

"Joe, we've been married for three months..." she said tiredly, closing her eyes.

"So it would be born about our 1 year anniversary! What a present!" he said excitedly.

"Hmm...not yet..." she mumbled, trying to go back to sleep.

"What do you mean, 'not yet'?" Joe asked innocently.

"I mean that I don't think we're ready yet." she said, realizing that she wasn't going to get sleep until she complied with the conversation.

"What?" Joe's face (and heart) fell.

"I guess...I guess I'm just not ready yet." she said softly.

"What? That's nonsense! Of course you're ready!" Joe insisted. "You'll know exactly what to do and all, I'm sure! You're gonna hafta teach me and stuff..."

"Not in the physical sense, Joe. I mean mentally, emotionally...I'm just not ready yet." she whispered, her heart hurting to see him so upset.

"Oh..." he responded, studying the sheets. "I guess I get it then."

"I'm sorry, Joe." she said, feeling the need to apologize at the hurt look on his face.

"Oh no, no worries. It's all good." he responded half-heartedly. Olivia knew that things were not "all good," but was way to tired to try and discuss it at that time of night. However, as the days passed, it seems that they had the same discussion over and over - Joe wanted a baby, but Liv wasn't ready. No matter what she tried to say to him, he didn't quite seem to understand how she was feeling. He spent more and more time over with Noah, making Olivia feel more and more guilty about holding him back from what he wanted so badly.

"I'm sorry, ok? I know this is what you want, but I'm just not ready!" she would say to him. And he would try to understand, she knew he was trying - but it would just go over his head every time. It wasn't something that he could try and fix in her - it was something she had to fix herself.

She got a breath of fresh air a few months later whenever Miley called her over for coffee one day, to chat without the boys - except for Noah, of course.

"Hey honey, how have you been?" Olivia asked, giving an awkward hug to Miley and Noah, plus a kiss on the cheek. She turned to the baby, speaking in a higher pitched voice. "Hello there, sweet boy. Have you been good for your mama? You look like a sweet angel child, but I've heard otherwise!"

"I'm good, and he behaves...for the most part." Miley said, forcing a smile. "Come on into the kitchen, I just put some coffee on." she said, leading Olivia into said kitchen. "You want a bagel or something too?"

"Sure, that'd be great." Olivia said, playing with Noah in his bouncy chair, which was stationed near the table. There were a few moments of silence before Miley spoke up again.

"So, Nick and I had an interesting conversation about you and Joe..." she said, not looking up from the bagel she was slicing.

"Yea? About what?" Olivia asked innocently, looking up at her.

"Just about you two, and babies...or lack there of." Miley reponded slowly and quietly.

"Oh." Liv replied softly, her shoulders slumping a little bit. She should have known this would be coming. "I'm guessing you want to know why?"

"Well, yes...but I completely understand if you don't want to talk about it." Miley said cautiously. However, her curiosity was quite obvious.

"It's just..." Liv struggled to begin. "For the last good chunk of my life, I've been having to take care of everyone else, focus on everyone else. But now, for the first time in a really long time, I can focus on the things that I want and such. Like I can focus on my work, and my husband and making my marriage work." she explained.

"Make it work? Are you afraid sometimes that it won't?" Miley asked hesitantly, a little shocked at the revelation.

"Not like that...I just...ugh, I'm not sure. I just want things to be ok between us right now. Like, just keep us happy. Most days I'm completely sure that everything's alright, but then there are other times where I wonder..."

"You really shouldn't question yourself like that." Miley said softly, reaching for Liv's hand.

"I know, but doesn't everyone, realistically? I mean, don't you ever wonder if having a normal life would be better?" Olivia asked timidly.

"I used to...but that's why I gave up being Hannah Montana. But it's sort of become normal for me again...I mean, I know that I love Nick, so I have to take what comes with him." Miley explained.

"Don't get me wrong, I love Joe in every sense of the word, but it just gets to be too much to handle sometimes. He's amazing, but sometimes he doesn't get it...like he won't understand why I get upset about him talking constantly about having a child. I try to explain it to him, but I can see that it goes over his head, and I just don't have the patience to try harder..."

"You know he's trying, though. I've known Joe a long time, and he's capable of understanding. He would do anything for you, you know that."

Olivia nodded, taking a pensieve sip of her coffee. She could tell that Miley couldn't really understand her thoughts either. Olivia suddenly had a deep pang of longing for her father - he would have understood her thoughts right now. When she left a half hour later, the hurt was still there, and stayed with her for the next week. The pressure from everyone around her really got to Liv - the stress of it was really beginning to take a toll on her. But try as she might, no one around her seemed to understand. It finally escalated to a boiling point one night, a few weeks after coffee with Miley.

"I just don't understand what you want!" Joe said frustratedly, hiding his face in his pillow.

"I've tried to explain it to you, Joe, you know that." Olivia said, her voice wavering.

"I know, but I don't understand why. You would make a perfectly wonderful mother!" he said, looking in her general direction in the darkness.

"I'm just not ready!" she insisted.

"But why?! Talk to me, hon." he said. "There's nothing that I've ever seen you do to make me think that you wouldn't be capable of being a mom. You can take care of anyone, anywhere, in any situation, I've seen you do it over and over and over!"

"Joe, seriously -" she tried to interrupt.

"You have that natural maternal instinct, the one where you have this constant yearning to take care of everyone else. Why wouldn't you want it to be someone of your own flesh and blood?" he continued.

"Joe, please -" she pleaded, her voice shaking in the darkness.

"C'mon, Liv! You know we could have a baby! That's what I'm asking for, what I really really want." he said.

"Please don't do this to me!" she said, her voice suddenly different than Joe had ever heard it before. He furrowed his brow in worry, flicking on the bedside lamp.

Olivia was crying.

Joe had never seen Olivia truly, utterly cry. Ever. And to see her small frame struggling to hold in sobs, and know that he was the cause of it - it broke Joe's heart.

"Am I just not good enough for you?" she asked quietly, her tears falling onto the sheets. He fumbled to a sitting positing, going to wrap his arms around her. Before he could, though, she put a hand out, pushing his arms away.

"Liv..." he said feebly, at a loss of what to do.

"Just...stay here. I need to go calm down." she said, climbing out of bed and walking out of their bedroom, her footsteps fading away as she walked down the hall. Joe stayed in bed, too shocked to move. Had he seriously...was she really...? He could kick himself a thousand times before taking a break and kicking himself another thousand times. Why hadn't he seen the stress that he'd been putting her under? How could he...?

Two hours later, Olivia still hadn't come back. Joe came to the conclusion that he should go find her. He may not have made the brightest decisions lately when it came to her thoughts, but he knew that the one thing she wanted when she was upset was to be held. Joe threw the covers off, going in search of his wife. He found her sitting in the window seat of the "hang out" room, staring at the stars and holding a cold cup of coffee. She didn't turn to him when he entered, but he knew that she knew he was there. Wordlessly he sat down behind her, taking the coffee cup from her and putting it on the floor next to them before pulling her close to his chest, holding her tightly. She laid her head against his arm, and he could feel a few straggling tears soak through the cotton of his tshirt. He placed his lips to her temple, trying to let his apology seep in through the simple contact. She adjusted herself closer to him, reaching up to touch his fingers without looking.

"I promise...not until you're ready." he whispered.

"Thank you." she replied, equally as softly, knowing that he would keep his promise.

X-X-X-X-X

wow. that was tragic.

ahem, as per usual, leave some love! peace out, y'all! 


	14. It's a Roller Coaster Ride

oh goodness, y'all! thank you for all the love!

sadly, this is the last chapter to this story. really, i'm out of ideas and there's no where else i can really take it. on the bright side, you all have a coproduction between ClaireBear536 and I that will begin in the near future!

X-X-X-X-X ::: Chapter 14: It's a Rollercoaster Ride

Joe kept his promise well. He stopped mentioning children, and Olivia was happy for it. She still felt guilty for keeping something from Joe that he wanted so badly, but he was understanding and knew that it wouldn't be for ever. It also helped that their life together had become unspeakably busy - besides their separate work, there was also a painful rough patch as Joe's father was hospitalized after a heart attack.

That was the most difficult part of the year for everyone. Miley and Nick struggled as Nick withdrew from everyone. Kevin and Jess were the rational ones that kept it together, helping out Mrs. Jonas and all. It hit Olivia (and consequently, Joe) particularly hard as her own actual father had died of a heart attack some ten years before. But the family pulled together and pulled through, and by the time a year had gone by, life had quieted down...

It was a rather quiet evening in the household of one Joe Jonas. He was in the hangout room, chilling out and reading the newspaper, looking quite like an old man. All he needed was a pipe and a smoking jacket. He had just moved on from "Over the Hedge" to "Peanuts" when he heard the stereo click on across the room, familiar piano chords floating across the room as Liv slid into the doorway, wearing one of his button down shirts (unbuttoned) over her bra and underwear. She began lip synching to the song - "Just take those old records off the shelf, I'll sit and listen to 'em by myself. Today's music ain't got the same soul, I like that old time rock and roll! (1)"

Joe laughed as she continued "singing," dancing her way across the room and whipping out what he was pretty sure were his sunglasses. She took his hand, pulling him up to dance with her. He laughed, twirling her around and attempting a tango, though the dance hardly matched the music. He took the sunglasses from her - after all, why did she get to dress up and leave him in normal clothes? - and continued rocking out to the old song. When the song faded away, the couple collapsed on the couch, exhausted by their intense dance skills.

"Someone's stuck in the 80's today." Joe remarked, laughing.

"'Risky Business' was on whenever I came home. What can I say, I was inspired." Olivia said, kissing him.

"And I have to say, the outfit is quite nice. I dig it." he said, moving the shirt a little bit to expose a little more skin.

"Yea, well, you know I very rarely approve of clothes." she replied, settling beside him as he wrapped an arm around her. They stayed in that position for a long while, simply enjoying being together. After a while, Olivia sat up.

"What is it?" Joe asked, looking to her. She seemingly refused to look at him. Instead she looked down at her hands, playing with her wedding ring.

"I was just thinking..." she began, but stopped, furrowing her brow and biting her lip.

"Ok, thinking is a good start." Joe said after a few moments of silence. Olivia took a deep breath, turning to face him.

"Do you still want to have a baby?" she asked, fastening her eyes upon his. The question hung in the air between them as Joe tried to decide if she was kidding or not.

"For riz?" he asked.

"For riz." she responded. His face brightened.

"Um, YEAH!" he said, kissing her soundly. She responded smiling into the kiss. He abruptly pulled back, looking at her with a serious look on his face.

"Are you sure you want this? That you're ready?" he asked. She nodded emphatically.

"I'm positive." she said, giving him a dazzling smile. He smirked.

"Well, technically not yet, but we'll get there eventually." he said, nodding his head. She rolled her eyes.

"Joe, that was one of the worst jokes ever." she said, laughing anyway.

"What? It was not! That was a good one!" Joe insisted. "That sucker was clever!"

"Of course, dear." Olivia said, patting his cheek. He rolled his eyes, kissing her softly.

"Anyway, back to the heart of the matter. About this whole 'baby' thing..." he said, his words broken up by kisses to her neck.

"What about it?" she asked innocently, enjoying the attention.

"I think we should start soon." he continued.

"Really? How soon?" she questioned further.

"Eh, now sounds good." he said.

"Now works. I'm free now." she replied.

And so they began trying for a baby. Joe wanted to keep it a secret ("Why would you ever want to ruin the surprise?!"), but Olivia told Miley anyway - after all, Miley had confided in her whenever she was trying for a baby. A few months later, everything went topsy turvy.

As the alarm was blaring one morning, Olivia knew that it was not going to be a good day. She was sick, and she very rarely got sick. Of course, she was the worst sick that was possible - headache, achy bones, and tremendously sick to her stomach.

"Are you ok?" Joe asked after turning the alarm off. Olivia shook her head in response, curling up into a little ball on her side. Joe was immediately alarmed, trying to be as calm as possible as he placed his hand on her forehead.

"You're a little warm." he said, sounding much more composed than he really was. Olivia never got sick - what kind of sick twist was this? Olivia shivered a little bit as an answer.

"Ok," Joe said, getting up. "You stay here. I'll get you some water and an Advil or something." he said, going out of the bedroom and downstairs to the kitchen, where he called the one person that he knew could help him.

"Hello?" Mrs. Jonas sleepily answered the phone.

"MOMMY!" Joe nearly yelled. "How do you nurse somebody back to health?!"

"Joseph?" she asked, still a little bit asleep.

"Yes it's me! Now tell me how to nurse somebody back to health!" he exclaimed, getting out the water and Advil he had promised Olivia.

"For the love, Joseph, you didn't try to cook again, did you?" she asked, suddenly awake.

"No, Mommy, I didn't. Olivia's sick, and she never gets sick ever, so forgive me if I FREAK OUT A LITTLE BIT!" he said.

"Well, what are her symptoms?" Dr. Mama Jonas asked.

"As far as I can tell, headache, fever, and..." he heard some odd noises from upstairs. "...nausea."

"Hmm." Mrs. Jonas hummed knowingly. "Well dear, I would say to keep her hydrated, get her some good soup, and suggest to take the day off."

"Hydration, soupage, and rest." Joe repeated dutifully back.

"Yes, good job." Mrs. Jonas commended.

"Thanks Mommy!" he said. "I'll talk to you later!"

"Oh, and Joseph?" she stopped him before he could say goodbye.

"Yes Mommy Dearest?" he asked innocently.

"While you're out getting soup, get a pregnancy test as well." she suggested.

"...Huh?" Joe asked, shocked. How was it that his mother managed to know anything at any given moment?!

"While you're out, go buy a pregnancy test." she repeated.

"No, I got that...but how did you - we didn't tell - huh?" he said, struggling to form coherent sentences.

"It's called Mother's Intuition, darling. Now go take care of your wife." she replied semi-vaguely.

"Ok." Joe said, not bothering to even attempt to question further. "Bye Mum!"

"Bye, son." she said, and they hung up. Joe stopped to ponder his mother's words - would they really be so lucky as to get pregnant this soon? They had only been trying for a few months, and WebMD suggested that it could take a year or more. He then remembered that his wife was upstairs and sick, so he grabbed the couple bottles of water he had gotten out of the fridge, got the whole dang bottle of Advil, and returned to her upstairs.

"Feeling any better?" he asked softly, stroking her hair as she laid down on the bed.

"A little." she replied, now awake enough to converse. She sighed. "I don't know what this is, I've never had the flu or anything like this before."

"Well, my mom suggested hydration, rest, andapregnancytest." Joe said quickly, hoping she wouldn't quite understand him.

"You called your mom?" she asked. Yes! His plan worked!...for the time being.

"Well yea, how else am I supposed to know how to nurse you back to health?" he asked, cracking open the bottle of Advil for her. "Now, take a couple of these and go back to sleep. I'll call you in sick and go get you some soup. Any particular kind?"

"Just chicken noodle is cool." she murmured, taking the pills and drinking some water before laying back down.

"Chicken noodle soup coming right up!" he said softly, kissing her forehead.

"Thank you, Joe." she murmured, already falling back asleep.

"No problem, love." he replied, leaving for the grocery store. A few minutes after he left, Olivia sat up, looking around the room blearily.

"Did he mention a pregnancy test?" she asked the empty room. When the air didn't answer, she shrugged, figuring she had just imagined it, and laid back down to take a nap.

A few days later, Olivia was feeling a lot better (well, usually), so Joe finally mentioned the pregnancy test again. After it tested positive, Olivia marvelled at their luck...and the insane intuition of Mrs. Jonas. Then the excitement set in.

"HOLY CRAP, WE'RE HAVING A BABY!" she said, excited beyond belief.

"AH, I KNOW!" he said, just as excited, picking her up and twirling her around. They waited the lucky amount of time (as specified by Jess) before gathering the whole family for dinner one night. There was excitement in the air the entire meal (to Joe and Olivia at least - although Mrs. Jonas and Mrs. Haddocks both had suspicious twinkles in their eyes...), and it was painful for them to wait until the end.

"Ok," Olivia said, getting up from the table and gathering everyone's attention. "so we gathered you all here because we have a very exciting announcement."

"Are you moving to England?" Tyler asked.

"Tyler!" Mrs. Haddocks exclaimed, smacking him upside the head.

"What?! I'd be excited if I was moving to England!" he justified himself as the group laughed.

"No, we're not moving to England, Ty." Olivia said, laughing at her younger brother.

"We're having a baby!" Joe said, unable to contain it any longer.

"Oh, well...that was my second guess." Tyler muttered, giving his older sister a half smile before the uproar. The couple was congratulated by the family, excitement being passed around like a bad case of strep throat. A couple weeks later, Miley announced that she was pregnant also, and Olivia was happy to have a "preggo buddy," as she dubbed her sister-in-law.

Pregnancy, however, was not very kind on Olivia. One day when Joe called her, she could be found alone in her office, head on desk and steaming cup of tea nearby.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked with a concerned tone in his voice.

"You know that scene at the end of the third Pirates of the Caribbean? With the whirlpool and all?" she asked.

"Um, yea..." he replied, not sure where that came from.

"I feel like that's happening in my abdomen." she stated shortly. Ah, so that's where the connection was.

"I'm sorry, hon." he said sympathetically.

"I'm also pondering why they call it morning sickness when it lasts all day." she said.

"Have you been taking your vitamins?" he asked.

"Yes."

"And drinking your water?"

"Yes."

"Then you'll be ok in no time!" he said.

"It's a girl, by the way." she stated.

"You asked the doctor?! I thought we agreed it would be a surprise!" Joe whined.

"No, it's just that my mom had perfect pregnancies with my brothers, but she says that mine was super rough. So I've concluded that it's a girl." she explained.

"I think that yours is opposite of hers and we're having a boy." Joe retorted.

"Just trust me on this, it's a girl." she said.

"I will not stop believing until the day he is born!" he said valiently.

"Ok, sounds good." she said shortly. "Now, what's up?"

"Huh?" he asked, momentarily forgetting why he was calling. "OH! Right. Do you think we could babysit Noah for a night while Nick and Miley go out? Cause a) they really need to go out together, and b) I think playing with the baby will be good for us."

"When were you thinking we would do this?" she asked, taking a sip of water. It helped a little.

"Um...tomorrow night." he said sheepishly. Liv took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

"Alright, tell them we'll babysit tomorrow." she agreed. Joe expressed his excitement and said he would call and tell Miley and Nick that they'd be there the next night. Liv smiled and shook her head, glad that he was so excited to have a child, especially since her excitement was growing exponentially every day.

The next night, they couldn't get to Nick and Miley's fast enough, to Joe at least.

"The babysitters club is here!" he announced when they arrived.

"Don't mind him, he's been excited all day." Olivia said laughing as she hugged Nick and Miley.

"That's a good thing, cause Noah's pretty excited as well." Miley said, smiling at her brother-in-law's enthusiasm.

"Obviously." Joe replied, rolling his eyes with a large smile on his face. "Now, where is the mini stud muffin?"

"In the family room," Nick said, pulling on his coat. "being entertained by blocks."

"Whoopee! My favorite!" Joe said, practically running off to where the small child was.

"And this is supposedly our first child?" Liv asked sarcastically. "If you ask me, I've been taking care of a little kid for quite a while now."

"I'm curious as to how he's going to be with the baby." Miley mused, chewing her lip in a moment of thought.

"You and me both. But you two get going, and have a good time! Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him, so it'll all be ok. Just have a quiet, relaxing evening." Liv said, giving a reassuring smile. Truth be told, she was feeling a lot better today than usual.

"Alright." Miley said, grabbing her purse and coat.

"Just call if you need anything." Nick said as they were heading out the door. Liv smiled, waving goodbye to them before joining her husband in the family room, where he was sitting on the floor with Noah and building...something.

"What exactly is that, huh?" Liv asked Noah, who smiled at the attention, throwing a couple of the blocks to show off.

"This is clearly a very artistic and purposeful pile." Joe replied as he tried to make a castle out of the blocks without Noah throwing one and knocking it all down.

"Oh yes, clearly." Liv agreed, nodding her head definitely. They spent the next few hours relatively problem free (only a few disasters had to be avoided), having fun doing all the baby things with little Noah, like games and blocks and Blue's Clues. It wasn't until about eight o'clock or so that the day started taking it's toll on Liv.

"You ok?" Joe asked, turning towards her as they sat on the couch.

"Noah." she said, looking to the small child. Joe quickly turned back, snatching up the boy before he could topple over and hit his delicate little head on the dangerous corner of the coffee table.

"Ok, Noah aside," Joe said, sitting the little boy on his lap. "you feeling ok?"

"Just a little tired is all. A little sickly." she said, waving it off. "It's all good."

"Do you want to go lay down for a little bit?" he asked. Olivia perked one eyebrow, giving him a look. "I promise I can take care of him without anything bad happening!"

"I don't know, Joe..." she said, but the wear and tear on her body also served to lessen her resilience to his pleas.

"Seriously, I'll pop in another movie, and then we'll play with blocks or legos or something until Nick and Miley get home." he said, his face softening. "You look really tired. Just go lay down."

Olivia sighed, hoping her instincts would win out over her judgement. "Ok, I'll go lay down for a little bit. But please, for the love, do not let anything happen to that child." she said.

"Scouts honor!" he replied, saluting her. She still looked a little skeptical, so Joe turned to Noah, bouncing him so that he produced a small giggle. "See? Tell Auntie Liv that everything is going to be a-ok!"

Liv was still a little hesitant, but she reasoned that eventually he would be left alone with their child, so she might as well get used to it. She gave both boys a quick kiss before giving in to her body and lying down for a nap. She didn't even hear when Miley and Nick came home.

"Why is Noah still up?" Miley questioned, a worried look on her face as she walked into the family room. "And where's Liv? She's supposed to watch...I mean, help you."

"Noah told me he didn't want to go to bed yet." Joe said. He continued when they gave him disbelieving looks. "Seriously, he was all 'Dude, Joe, come on man, throw me a bone here.' And look at that face, I just couldn't say no!"

"Joe, Noah can't mutter a coherent word, much less a sentence." Miley said pointedly. "You can't keep the baby up just to entertain you, he needs sleep. And again, where's Liv?" she said tiredly.

"She's lying down in one of the spare bedrooms, I think. She said she was tired." Joe mumbled, shrugging and turning his attention back to the baby.

"I'm going to go find her." Miley sighed, exiting the room quickly.

"What did I do?" Joe asked Nick, confused.

"She just has Noah on a schedule, and he's supposed to go to bed earlier than this." Nick explained, shrugging.

"Well, staying up a little late one night won't kill him - live a little." Joe said. He turned to Noah. "You had fun tonight, didn't you little buddy? Mommy and daddy are a little too strict, don't you think?"

"Just wait to you have yours, Joe. Just wait." Nick said with a smile. "You'll be praying that they get on a sleep schedule so that you can get some shut eye as well."

Meanwhile, Miley found Liv dead asleep in one of the spare bedrooms. She didn't want to waker her up, but she knew that she had to go to her own house. Miley silently sat down on the edge of the bed, gently rousing Liv from her sleep.

"Hey hon, we're back." she said softly as Liv's eyes fluttered open.

"Oh, hey." Liv responded, yawning as she sat up and stretched.

"Tired?" Miley asked, a smile on her face.

"Oh yea. Do you know how hard it is to take care of a two year old and a grown man at the same time? Pretty darn hard, let me tell you." Liv said, running her hands through her hair in an effort to fix it.

"Well, I don't usually have to take care of the grown man." Miley smiled. Liv shook her head, smiling as well.

"Hopefully he'll grow up a little bit when the baby comes. But I mean, he's still the same guy I fell in love with, so I'm not sure it matters." she said, shrugging.

"He's going to be a great dad, you'll see." Miley said, over-comforting the older woman.

"Oh, I have no doubt about that." Liv said with a confident smile. She got up, stretching once more before going to collect Joe and return to their house (after checking and making sure that Noah was still alive, of course).

The sickness and aches and pains eased up as the pregnancy went on. Before long, Olivia was referring to herself as a house, and the nursery was almost finished. Then, the day they had been waiting so long for finally arrived.

The pair was sitting in the house, reading and having quality time together when Liv suddenly turned to her husband.

"So, guess what." she said, the epitome of calm.

"What?" he asked, looking at her with an odd look on his face.

"My water just broke." she said nonchalantly.

"WHAT?!" Joe nearly yelled, going into freak out mode.

"Just get the bag and drive me to the hospital, hon." Liv said, smiling. Now, Joe knew that she was pain tolerant, but this was ridiculous! By the time they made it to the hospital, the family had been alerted and was on their way as Olivia was settled into her room and connected to all the necessary machines and moniters. The first contraction that was registered sent all the needles and moniters into a frenzy, and Joe had to "sit down". Right on the floor next to the bed.

"Ah, I didn't pass out!" he said, jumping up as a nurse came in. "I was just checking the floor for germs!"

"Of course you were, dear." the nurse said sarcastically with a smile. "The family's all in the waiting room. Do you want to go talk to them, or shall I?"

Joe looked to Liv, who told him to go talk to the family. Joe sprinted out to the waiting room, running his hands through his hair.

"Oh my God, a baby is about to come out of her." he said by way of greeting. The group stared at him as he began to pace.

"Joe, hon, you know how the baby got there in the first place so we don't need to go into that, but how else did you expect it to arrive?" Miley asked in her mother tone.

"I don't know! Magic?" he asked weakly, grabbing Miley's shoulders. "WHAT DO I DO?!"

Nick "lightly" backhanded him. "You're going to let go of my wife, then you're going to chill out and go back to Olivia instead of standing around here freaking out, ok?" he said. Joe nodded, but there was still an element of freak out there.

"Right. Ok." he said, taking a deep breath and attempting to make his way back to the room. Nick looked to Kevin, attempting to speak telepathically and nodding in Joe's direction. Kevin nodded, getting up and following his brother.

"Joe, hold up." Kevin said, stopping him. Joe stopped abruptly, turning to face his older brother. Kevin placed both hands on his shoulders. "You need to calm down. For reals."

"Ah, I can't help it!" Joe said.

"You don't need to freak out this much." Kevin said seriously.

"Well one of us has to! She's just in there, all calm and pain tolerant - if it weren't for all those machines, I wouldn't even know if she was having a contraction! HOW IS SHE SO CALM?!" Joe said.

"Joe, if she is calm, then don't you think you should probably be calm as well?" Kevin pointed out. Joe looked at his brother as if seeing him in a new light.

"I'm so glad Mom kept you." he said.

"So I've heard." Kevin muttered. "Now go be with your wife, and don't freak out."

"Good plan." Joe said, nodding. "Thanks, Kev."

"No problem." Kevin replied, going back to the waiting room as Joe rejoined Olivia.

"How is it?" he asked her, brushing her hair off of her face. She shrugged.

"Honestly? Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Then again, I'm on drugs now." she said happily.

"Well that's good then!" Joe said, trying his hardest to appear calm. He spent the next few hours next to her, waiting for that one moment.

"Ok, Liv," the nurse said. "Are you ready?"

"Yes! Get it out already!" Liv said, pretending to be dramatic as she was put into position. Joe took his position next to her, grasping her hand in his.

"Alright dear, here we go! Give me a BIG push!" the nurse said enthusiastically. Liv nodded, pushing as hard as she could and squeezing Joe's hand. Later she would compliment him on his intense hand holding - he took it like a man.

"You're doing great, sweetie." the nurse said. "Now gimme another push!" she said, and Liv obliged, having a sudden thought that she was glad for doing all those crunches when she was younger.

"Our child's almost out!" Joe said excitedly, brushing the blonde hair out of Olivia's face. She was sent into one final push, relaxing immediately as the baby was fully born, crying almost instantaneously. The baby was cleaned up before handed to Olivia.

"Congratulations, you have a baby girl!" the nurse said happily. Joe smiled brightly, kissing Liv's cheek.

"We have a little baby girl." he said, and began cooing softly to the little baby. "Hi there, baby. I'm your daddy. We're gonna have some good times."

"You wanna go tell the others?" Olivia asked.

"They can wait a little longer." Joe said, discreetly counting all the fingers and toes on the little girl. Olivia smiled. After they named her, she sent Joe to go inform their poor relatives. He practically sprinted out to the waiting room, nearly shaking in excitement.

"It has ten fingers and ten toes and is COMPLETELY AWESOME!" he exclaimed.

"A little louder Joe, I'm not sure the people in Texas heard you." Nick muttered sarcastically. Joe either didn't hear him or didn't care.

"Is it a boy or girl?" Mrs. Jonas asked excitedly, clasping her hands together.

"It's a girl! And did I mention she's AWESOME?!" he continued.

"Does she have a name, or are you just planning to call her awesome?" Miley asked, laughing at Joe's energy.

"Oh yea! Her name's Kate - isn't that AWESOME?" he asked rhetorically. The group laughed, shaking their heads at the excited father.

Joe could easily say that after Kate was born, he was in the best time of his life. For all the excitement he had when he would go see Noah, it was a million times greater with his own daughter. Olivia was very happy to see that he did grow up a little bit - or rather, he stepped up and was the father that she knew he would be. It was hard, taking care of a child when they both had work, and there were some disagreements and definitely a lack of sleep, but it was completely worth it.

After a while, Joe couldn't stand being away from his family so much to go on tours and such - plus, he could tell that it really put a strain on Liv. So one day, at the group meeting, he casually threw out the idea of taking a break for a few years. Kevin and Nick agreed quicker than he anticipated, both of them also struggling with missing their families. And so they went on one last "hasta luego (2)" tour, then settled into the family life that they had always wanted.

X-X-X-X-X

(1) - "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll" by Bob Seger. YouTube "tom cruise risky business" for further explanation of what's going on. If you have no idea what I'm talking about in this, then I'm very sorry.  
(2) - "Hasta luego" means "until later" in Spanish. Thought I'd footnote it in case someone...well, doesn't speak Spanish.

ok, so super cheesy ending. whatever. as you can tell (and as i said at the beginning), this is the final installment of this story. i'm sorry, but i don't have any more ideas and no idea where i can take this next. HOWEVER you should get excited for a collaboration between ClaireBear536 and i, cause it's basically going to be amazing! so look out for that, coming to a theatre near you!

as always, leave love! peace out, y'all! 


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